SOS (Save Our Souls)
by atokkota
Summary: After the horror of the 2nd Voldemort War, a grieving witch sends a letter into the past in the hope of changing history for the better. To prevent the genocide of the wizarding world, she was ready to have her existence wiped out. There are consequences to timeline manipulation but anything was better than the Armageddon she was living in now. Grief is the price we pay for love AU
1. An SOS is sent to the past

Chapter 1: An SOS is sent to the past

It was a strange, cold but dry, early January Saturday for Professor Severus Snape when he received a charmed letter and parcel from an unknown sender. It was only the seventh of January but his birthday was on Monday, the ninth, so he was not totally surprised by the arrival of a parcel. _It must be from Narcissa,_ he thought initially before looking at the handwriting. Since it was not Narcissa's familiar script, Severus Snape thought twice about opening the letter and parcel here at the Head Table during breakfast. No, it could wait until later, when he checked it out in his office.

The young Professor had been enjoying the peace of the last three months but was still sad over the death of his friend, Lily, on Halloween. There was no body found for his Dark Lord and as a result, his Light Lord and employer, Albus Dumbledore, believed that Voldemort was waiting for the right time before he came back. _Really, both Lords could be as bad as each other,_ Severus Snape thought but it was better to have only one Lord to report to than two. Everyone else in the magical world seemed to want to forget the horror of the war and just live in peace.

So here he was playing the watching and waiting role of the sleeper spy. Professor Snape, as the Head of House for Slytherin, was able to watch those families who participated in the war, who were linked with the house of the cunning. He was currently trapped here as the Potions Master cum teaching slave to Albus Dumbledore, as Dumbledore offered the only protection Severus had in this new world order, even though he was one of the best Potions Masters in the world today.

Taking the parcel and its letter he retired from the Great Hall to his office to wait for the drop-in students from his House coming to see him. There were not many who had stayed over the Yule break so he did not expect to be busy, but office hours were office hours. Those horrible, pesky things you did when you had students. The rest of the students would be back tomorrow to start the second semester of the year. Sitting in his office after sweeping the parcel and letter for curses and traps he found the items to be clear. After debating with himself, he finally opened the letter.

oOoOo

My dear Severus,

My wise and cunning friend, please read this letter and take action to save us all. Of course, as the sleeper spy, you will need to read and keep this correspondence confidential. Do not share the details or the fact you have received a time communication with anyone else, not even the illustrious Headmaster. The Department of Mysteries alone would lock you up for the rest of your days and that would be a total waste of your mind and talent.

Professor, you asked me to call you Severus and I did so for many years but in my mind when I reminisce about you, I always think of you in your Professor mode, as you taught me so much both in and out of the classroom, although you would never tell me how you would get your robes to billow they way they do, you great dungeon bat!

This letter is an act of desperation, my Professor. You would be so angry with me but I am so desperate that I have probably sacrificed my existence and my magic in the adaptation of a number of archaic rituals to send this parcel of hope to you. I am desperate enough that I am willing to chance Fate's revenge. Please make sure that you read this correspondence in private. This letter is not a cruel joke or a twisted trick but rather a plea for help. I am from your future and I am the best friend of Harry, the son of your best friend, Lily Evans Potter.

The reason for this time travelling correspondence is that I have to attempt to make the future better for you, Lily's son, Harry, and for so many others. I am a muggleborn witch and in this time period, 20 years from now, I am one of the last members of the Order of the Phoenix. My life expectancy was already non-existent, so I risked it all in the hope that something better would come out of my meddling with time. Why am I so desperate, you ask? I can hear your sneer at me in my mind, calling me a dunderhead. Thanks to the lack of resistance and the idiotic, sheep-like behaviour of the magical community, who believed that either the Ministry or some child would save them from the return of Voldemort, we were all doomed to the death of magic. Sorry, as you prefer, Sev, I will call him the Dark Lord rather than that name.

Yes, young Harry defeated Tom Marvolo Riddle, your Dark Lord, when he was 15 months old, but he did not kill him as his spirit still survives. Using a particularly foul dark ritual, Riddle split his soul, storing the pieces of his soul in objects known as horcruxes. The problem is that he did not do it just once; oh no, the sick, twisted bastard did it a total of seven times by our calculations.

Due to the manipulations of the demented old coot better known as Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you and many others sacrificed way too much. The old fool used the excuse of the 'greater good' and unwittingly enslaved our world of magic into a darker, dying society. Now, again, in my today, thanks to Riddle's attacks, the muggles hunt us magicals as terrorists and social deviants, like the medieval witchhunts of old, except now they have the technology to track and hunt us remotely. Nowhere is safe in the world and we are on the most wanted list of every country. While Harry in the end defeated the Dark Lord, it came at too high a price. Harry, Lily's boy, my best friend, was never just Harry. To Dumbledore, he was a chess piece that he would mould into the tool he believed Harry needed to be. Harry was Dumbledore's pet tool, never really a child, never free. My friend ended up paying the ultimate price of the giving of his life when he did not have to.

He was not alone in making this sacrifice, as there have been too many deaths, much too much suffering and great hurt for far too many, both magical and muggle. One of the hardest experiences I had in my short life was holding your hand as I watched you pass on to the next dimension or journey in your cycle of life. Yes, you die in the future. Of course, we all die at some time and even then, at the end, you were thinking of your Lily. The night you died was the night I also lost my best friend, it was the night when the Battle of Hogwarts took place and children were forced to fight. So many innocents were killed just for being school students.

After you passed, Harry and I watched your memories of Lily, along with the memory of the Headmaster rationalising the greater good to you. His order to you to euthanise him instead of allowing a murder mark on the soul of Draco Malfoy was another memory that horrified us both. Dumbledore believed that bearing the burden of his death would corrupt the boy but what about your soul? Sure, it gave you greater access to the inner circle and secured your position in the Dark Lord's army, but at what cost? After seeing your memories I then had to watch my best friend walk out to a one-on-one duel with the Dark Lord and die in the process of killing him. This was after an eight-month search for his soul containers, with little or no guidance, while on the run from Riddle's agents and the corrupt Ministry of Magic. I have included the vial of your memories so you can verify that they are real.

I beseech you to keep your promise to protect Lily's child. Please don't trust Albus implicitly anymore, as he believes that he infallible. Yet, he is human like the rest of us and it is through his actions, where he believed in his hyped-up fame as the greatest Light wizard of the century, that chaos and disaster ensued. I would question his eminence, as I have come to believe that even if he was not as evil as Tom Riddle, it was partly his fault that this abomination was created.

In the second war, the Order of the Phoenix ended up having their wings clipped by Dumbledore's failure to share information and his insistence on the greater good myth. The Order in the end, was a group of ostriches or big chickens. The reality was that in the second war against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters, the Order of the Phoenix was too late and too ineffectual. Albus' decisions wasted lives, time and resources. Too many lives, and way too much in the way of resources. The Queen once said that grief is the price we pay for love, but we have paid so much more than just grief, since we have lost so much.

As the great spy that I know you are, I ask you to do some research to verify my information and assure yourself of the situation. Utilise your contacts, both light and dark.

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

Born in 1926 at Wool's Orphanage, London. Halfblood. AKA Lord Voldemort (which is an anagram of his real name). Slytherin.

Father, Tom Riddle buried in Little Hangleton cemetery. Muggle. Local Lord of the Manor.

Mother, Merope Gaunt. Pureblood. Her family home is a shack near the cemetery in Little Hangleton.

There is a ring horcrux hidden in the shack. Be careful as there are many curses in the shack and the ring itself also contains a dangerous curse, along with a compulsion charm on it that needs be removed before touching it. This ring is the one that killed Albus in my time line, in Harry's and my 6th year. The Gaunts are descendants of Salazar Slytherin and Cadmus Peverell. The stone in the ring is one of the Deathly Hallows.

Yes, that means the Dark Lord is a half blood; how would all those Pure Blood fanatic followers like to know this information?

SIRIUS ORION BLACK

Born in 1959. Pureblood and your childhood bully, along with James Charlus Potter, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. Gryffindor. Auror and Hitwizard.

Never received a trial. He was not the secret keeper but another Marauder was the Judas. Remus Lupin was a werewolf (also died the same night as Harry, together with his wife) and much of your potions research has been for the development of a cure for this horrific disease. Due to his monthly transformations while in school, the rest of the Marauders all became illegal animagi. Moony is Remus' Marauder nickname.

Sirius' animagus form is a Grim and this is reflected both in his Patronus and in his nickname of Padfoot. Peter Pettigrew, the betrayer, is a rat animagus and was called Wormtail. Wormtail is a marked Death Eater. He joined the Dark Lord in his 7th year and he later resurrected the Dark Lord in Harry's and my fourth year at Hogwarts. In your time, Wormtail is currently in residence at the Weasley home, The Burrow, under the guise of Scabbers, young Percy Weasley's pet rat.

HORCRUXES

The horcruxes at your point in time are:

Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, currently located in Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts Vault.

Tom Riddle's Diary. In your time period it is in the procession of Lucius Malfoy and is believed to be hidden at Malfoy Manor. We destroyed it in 1992 when we killed the basilisk, as another child had been possessed by the diary, which was using the child to control the basilisk. Please note that basilisk was in the Chamber of Secrets and over 60 feet long. The poisoned fang of the king of serpents was plunged into the diary to stop the possession and destroy the horcrux. At the time we did not know what the diary was, nor did we learn until much later than only basilisk venom or fiendfyre can destroy a horcrux. When we talked about this horcrux a couple of summers later, you advised me that you did not believe that Lucius truly knew what the diary was. Lucius had been horrified that an incredible large and deadly snake was sneaking round the halls and pipes of the castle where his son and heir was going to school.

Salazar Slytherin's Locket. Regulus Black died stealing this from the Dark Lord. Before his death, he gave it to the Black house elf, Kreacher, who has it with him at 12 Grimmauld Place. Regulus had instructed Kreacher to destroy it but Kreacher was unable to do so. You will need to get Sirius to help you get the locket from him.

Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, currently located in the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor of Hogwarts. The house elves know the room as the "Come and Go Room.". You need to walk three times past the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy and the dancing trolls, asking for a room to hide something.

Riddle's familiar, Nagini. A highly venomous snake, whose bite wounds do not heal easily. In your time, Nagini is not yet a horcrux. She is made into a horcrux in about 1994, when Riddle is reanimated with a new body. The snake needs to be killed to remove the horcrux. Also, you need to do some serious anti-venin work as she bites people far too frequently. It would be advantageous for the spy to have some protection from this weapon. In the parcel, I have included some vials of her poison, which I milked from her dead carcass. I have included my notes on the antidote development we have already done and some samples of the developed formulation so far as well.

The current Albanian wraith, ie, the Dark Lord's current condition. The wraith will possess Professor Quirius Quirrell sometime during his sabbatical research year in Albania. This occurs some time in 1990 to 1991. The possessed Professor will return for the 1991/1992 academic year and Harry ended up killing him merely by touching him, due to the protections afforded him by Lily's sacrifice.

The last one... is young Harry himself. His lightening bolt scar. Albus is a bright professor but he does not know everything and he limited his research to wizarding literature. The goblin healers can quite easily remove this soul fragment from the boy without killing him. It is not necessary for my best friend to die to stop the Dark Lord.

I have given you a full Potions Master's kit that I have expanded to include many very rare ingredients for your experiments. The ingredients are all freshly collected within the last three months so they should be good for you. I have made a copy of all your potions journals for the last 17 years and combined them into one journal. I have also provided you with your own grimoire that I have started for you with the translations of the spells and potions from Salazar's secret library from the Chamber of Secrets. I rewrote all your journals in case sending them back wiped them out. I have provided a journal for financial trading so that you can use your knowledge of the stock market to make money to help fund a new front, separate from the Order of the Phoenix, that can improve the integration between both worlds and work to protect children. I have also provided other materials for your perusal, so that you know what happened in the second war and in the last twenty years. Information can help you build a third way or battlefront. Why can't we have a balance or unity of both light and dark? This third front can be the Freedom Alliance, that is grey in attitude since there is no such thing as light or dark magic, but just magic. It is the intent of the user that makes it good or bad.

At no time do all seven horcruxes exist together, so if you can remove them as quickly as they are made it would be most helpful. We can get rid of the Dark Lord early in Harry's education, perhaps during his first year, and get rid of this threat to our world as soon as possible. At the same time, we need to revolutionise our world – we need to innovate and develop. If we can change, we can build links and have a better association with the non-magical world.

Severus, my friend you don't have to do this alone; you have friends and allies who are willing to fight this third front with you. Let go of the feud with the Marauders. Reconnect with Remus and brew a better Wolfsbane. Let him see his young son and see him grow into a future. Get the rat, Peter Pettigrew; a good ally would be Amelia Bones, in more ways than one, as she is not a great fan of Dumbledore and hates the Dark Lord for the death of most of her family. Get Sirius out of prison. He has grown up and Harry needs him to be his godfather. My Harry grows up in a home like your childhood and I know you protect your snakelings from abuse and neglect. Please protect him too in the same manner. Make life different for my Harry. Harry once said he would have been a Slytherin. except for a run in with Draco Malfoy, who reminded closely of his cousin Dudley who bullied him.

When you have your accident on you birthday this year that will prove to you that I am not a total crackpot. Get Poppy Pomfrey to do the initial healing and then go and make contact with Drs Dan and Emma Granger. Allow those specialist dentists to do the repairs. You did the repairs in my fourth year after talking to me about my parents' professional skills and specialisation. After treatment with them you wished you had taken up the Muggle approach earlier, as it gave you much relief from pain and constant suffering, which I am sure is why you were always so short with us in class. Dan Granger can be an ally for you, as he was before his death. My Father, Dan, was actually a squib son of a squib, descended from the famous potioneer, Dagworth-Granger. The only one I believe you can share the details of what is going on with is my father but please don't tell him it was me who sent the information into the past. There is a letter for him in the parcel that doesn't say anything much about what has happened but I pulled on his heartstrings to do this one action of going with you to Gringotts bank for an inheritence test. I have also included a letter for Gringotts supporting the pair of you claiming the Dagworth-Granger Estate on my behalf and appointing both of you joint regents. The regency letter is a letter of magical authority that I have imbued with my magical essence. Don't forget to swear the Gringotts officials to secrecy. If you can pick someone to work with, I suggest Griphook, as he is a devious goblin at the best of times. Remember you need watertight oaths to protect yourself and my family, Sev. I know, I know; stop trying to teach a master spy to suck eggs. Together with the financial information and the Dagworth-Granger seed money you can fund the third front and your research.

In addition to your potions journals, I have also included the key articles in potions and Muggle science research that you may like to explore. We can use this information to make advancements that profit the alliance and the fight against the Dark Lord's followers.

I have included the information to access the Chamber of Secrets, along with the big picture ideas we bounced around in the long dark nights at Headquarters after the resurrection of Dark Lord. Recruit the other Heads of Hogwarts' Houses to the alliance. Recruit the remaining loyal Marauders. Turn Lucius and Narcissa as soon as Sirius has been cleared. Lucius will regret being marked when he finds out the lies Tom Riddle had told and the threat he makes to his son. At the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, Narcissa defected and took Draco and Lucius from the battlefield before becoming exiles on the continent. In the end, a Muggle hit squad sent by the Estrange brothers assassinated all three Malfoys in Naples.

So what about your Dark Marks? I have provided my research notes for the development of a lotion to help you fade and break the links of this corrupted Protean Charm. We used this lotion to reduce your link when you were exposed as a double agent. We had postulated that the Goblin Nation's healers, who left not long after the Dark Lord's reanimation, would have been able to help remove this dark magic if they can deal with soul jars. It simply would be the case of paying enough money to convince them to provide this service.

One of the factors we thought about is what about changing your name from Severus Tobias Snape to Severus Snape Prince in a re-birthing ceremony? Get rid of the damage that you father did to you physically, mentally and emotionally. Remove the link to the Dark Lord.

Treat me as any other child that you teach and if we become friends, we become friends. I really don't expect to have a long life in the magical world, thanks to my meddling. I believe the Fates and the laws of time will punish me but I am willing to accept this punishment if it stops the disaster of what is happening now.

I have also included a birthday present for this year for you, along with some other odds and ends that I believe you will find useful.

Please, my friend: change the roll of the dice and save them all. There is a folio of newspaper news reports along with vials of memories for you to review as soon as you can get a pensive and take the time to work your way through them.

May you find love and have a long and fruitful life that is peaceful after you have dealt with the Dark Lord. You are worthy of love and you can have redemption. You have been redeemed from your teenage mistakes, both calling your best friend that name and taking that awful mark.

Best wishes, my friend and mentor

Hermione (Mia) Granger


	2. Exploring a parcel

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 2: Exploring a parcel**

Severus was blown away by the generous items the witch had provided him with. He had an absolute fortune with the ingredients in the parcel alone. The journals were what made him realise it was most definitely not an elaborate hoax. He opened his current potions journal and compared it to the journal the witch had sent. There were the notes he had made last night, even the stray comments about himself that he had included.

Within the books the witch had added to the parcel, he was surprised to find his old school potions textbook in which he had called himself the Half Blood Prince as part of his teenage arrogrance. Professor Snape was pretty sure that his copy of the potions text was at Spinners End. Looking through the book he saw his own spiked handwriting but now there were additional notes by the witch as she had made comments. Her neat, rounded but not over loopy script was in contrast to his own script. He never had a chance to finish editing the book but from glancing through the book, it looked like the witch had continued his work. He had put down this project when he had started his potions mastery, as he just did not have the time. There was an inscription on the back title fly leaf page. It was short and very to the point.

oOoOo

Sev,

Finish it for Lily and yourself. We need a proper text so we will not be dunderheads. We need more NEWTs in potions, so we have an Auror force to challenge the Death Eaters. The income alone would help you have that dream lab you want at Spinners End.

You need it. Don't be a dunderhead.

A know-it-all bookworm!

oOoOo

Who was this woman to boss him around like this? Although she did have a point that he needed a proper private lab at his home. Heck, his family home in Greater Manchester needed to be bombed in a blitz raid so he could start again but the Mancunian he was could not waste money by pulling it down. Not that he had the funds to do a rebuild, let alone the demolishment, and then where would he be? Stuck in the castle all year round, that's where.

He worked his way through the rest of the parcel and found considerable reading material for the next year or two. At least he would not be bored stiff.

Albus Dumbledore walked straight into his office. Damn the man! "Oh, any lollies in your birthday parcel from Narcissa?"

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I could have had a student in here discussing a private matter," huffed the affronted man.

"You didn't, as your door was open. You're losing your touch if you didn't even realise I was there. Naughty, naughty. So what has got you so fascinated?" the man asked, wondering what had been sent to his spy. No, this man needed to be kept under control so he could be used when Voldemort returned. He tried to look in the parcel but Severus had shut the box, placing a green and silver wrapped parcel on top.

"So you haven't opened the present yet?" inquired Dumbledore.

"Professor, as you well, know my birthday is on the ninth of January, NOT the seventh. Until then it will remain unopened," snapped Snape, hoping he could send the man away.

"Oh, I thought I would just drop by and let you know Poppy is running low on some potions for the infirmary. I thought you should drop by and see if you could help her out. You are looking a little bored so I think we could expand your duties to cover all the infirmary needs, not just on a case-by-case basis," and with that bombshell, Albus Dumbledore walked out.

What an insufferable wizard! After moving his parcel and letter into his private quarters, the Potions master stood and looked hard at his rooms. Hmm, how could he work this to his advantage? He was pondering a number of ideas as he walked up the stairs to the domain of the dominatrix of pain, better known as Poppy Pomfrey.

"Professor Snape."

"Madam Pomfrey, the Headmaster has asked me to drop by to discuss your potions needs and shortages," he advised. Right, he was going to get a better professional working relationship with this witch. He knew her skill all too well as student and she was one of the best in the profession but now he needed her to support his ideas and allow his secondary schemes to come into play. She would be a good ally in the politics of the school budget and the best care for the dunderheaded students. With her support, he could then court at least one other Head of House. Once he bagged one of the female heads, he could work on bagging the other. Minerva was always going to be the most difficult witch on the staff, since as Deputy Head of the school she could make or break some of his plans. Filius would be easy to recruit if he was expanding the academic knowledge base and improving the school's ranking in the world. The old dueling master still dueled for the top spot of academia in the Charms world. He weaved his words and academic papers in the same manner that he used to weave his wand on the competitive duelling platform. Hard and fast working, for total obliteration of his enemies.

After a discussion with Poppy, he was horrified at the prices she was paying and the cost to the school her budget was creating. What he could do with half of one term's potions allowance! Merlin, the quality she was getting was pathetic. After a considerable discussion with the witch, he had her partial support.

At lunch, he started the recruitment of Pomona Spout to his new alliance within the staff room. Sitting near Poppy, he got her to snag Pomona over coffee concerning the problem of the potions supply for the infirmary. "You realise that 90% of potions have ingredients, which we could grow in a dedicated infirmary potions greenhouse here on the grounds?" he asked.

"Yes, really Severus. Where would I be able to do this miracle? I couldn't do it as we have only two greenhouses which don't have roofs that leak," huffed the Badgers' Head of House.

"Well, I think we could come up with a mutual support arrangement quite easily. Why not take this discussion down to my office, as we could have some peace and quiet there to hash out the mechanics while I get started on some of the brewing for Poppy?" explained Severus before standing up and leaving the Great Hall. The Head Badger, for all her intellect in her area of study, would be curious and by laying on honey, she would come to his trap and support this endeavour. Many forgot that the mascot of Helga Hufflepuff's House was the badger. This animal was a formidable opponent who would protect its kits to the death.

He quickly returned to his office and had already started brewing a number of the potions Poppy needed by the time the two witches arrived together. Severus laid out the plan to the two witches, proposing that if he brewed Poppy's list of potions, they could divert the money saved from the infirmary's budget to fix the old Greenhouse Six and possibly even Greenhouse Five at the same time. They would need to get Minvera's support but it would mean that some of the infirmary costs could decrease in the next financial year. Additionally, any surpluses left could be sold to the trade, either in raw ingredients or value added product form. The surplus could help provide additional funding to other Hogwarts projects.

Pomona's research could be helped and if there was a research greenhouse, this would be an opportunity for both Pomona and his budgets to be redressed to find funding to make improvements. He needed a private lab for the production of the infirmary potions and to do proper research. All of his teaching labs needed to be updated and he was sure he could do this in stages. If Severus took over the complete brewing for the infirmary's supplies, the cost of potions could be reduced to a quarter of what they are now for the school. He further sold the idea that if his labs were updated, then theoretically they could reduce the number of potions accidents that resulted in infirmary patients. The same sort of reciprocal relationship could also come from Herbology if the greenhouses were repaired. While Greenhouses One and Two had watertight roofs, their walls were not great. Pomona was not rotound but rather wore multiple layers against the cold of her working environment. She really was a top heavy, curvy witch, if her holiday snaps from the Italian beaches in the summer were anything to go by.

Now, how were the two witches going to get Minvera's support? Severus rightly pointed out if he presented the idea, the witch in question would shoot it down as part of the long-running Slytherin vs Gryffindor rivalry. No, the idea had to come from the witches. Maybe they could pitch that if the savings were made, eventually they could buy new brooms for the school. This idea itself would help improve the infirmary's budget by reducing patients.

As he worked on the potions, the witches bounced around a number of ideas and then Pomona suggested getting Rolanda on side. Slowly but surely, they got a battle plan developed and he continued brewing while they tootled off to bag their first subject: Rolanda Hooch. Oh, it felt good to be scheming again after the deathly quiet of the last three months.

It did not take long on the Saturday for Severus to put a considerable dent in the list of shortages that Poppy had provided for him. After dinner that night, during which he had seen the three witches in close conversation regarding – he presumed - the replacement of the brooms, the former spy returned to his rooms and started to read. He picked up the war diaries and was horrified to see how little had changed from this time to her time. The witch certainly had a way with words and he would have nightmares about what he had read, not that these new nightmares would be very different to those he had now.

He worked his way through the parcel of books and other literature to get a more detailed idea of what they contained. His brain was firing on all cylinders for ideas – so much so that he had brought in the extra, rolling, slate boards from his main teaching room to chalk down his ideas.

His Sunday was spent in refining and finishing his battle plan. The newspaper articles and the combined journals provided dates to generate a timeline. Before heading off to the Sunday Welcome Feast, he spelled the condensed plan to his current potions journal that was almost completed and removed all the chalk markings from the boards. He asked the house elves to return the boards to his main classroom storage area. His parcel of information was then hidden under his own personal wards in his bedroom. No, this was not something that he wanted out in the public area of his rooms; actually, he was going to use Dumbledore's own warding to help secure these items by placing them in the cupboard where his Death Eater robes and mask were stored.

As he sat at the Head Table watching the students return, he finished his plans for how he would approach the students of Slytherin House. Now was the time to start changing the inter-house rivalry. He called over his seventh year male prefect, the youngest Flint, Marius, who was the brother of his comrade Marcus Flint Snr. Unfortunately, Flint Senior had managed to get himself captured and his wife, Urusla, was now running the family. Marcus and Ursula had a young son who would start at Hogwarts soon. Things needed to change before that young ruffian arrived, as he would be just like his father: a total thug.

No, if he could get Marius to be a good uncle to the child, and provide a better view on the world, there could be some hope there for that family. The boy stepped up to the table and was advised that there was a full House meeting directly after dinner, followed by a prefects' meeting once the firsties were in their beds.

The word was passed through the ranks and he could see the curiosity of his snakelings. Right, it was a new year and from this year onwards, he was going to make a change showing the cunning and intelligence of Slytherin.

oOoOo

"Good evening, Master Snape."

"Good evening, Slytherins, and welcome back to a new year. Now are we making a new start to the year, we are also going to make a new start for our House. I would like to remind you of our traits: we of this House are supposed to be cunning, clever, resourceful, determined, ambitious, shrewd, strong leaders and achievement orientated, with a highly developed sense of self-preservation. We now have to apply all our traits to ensure our self-presevation in this new world, post-war."

"Can anyone list the House rules for Slytherin?"

"Yes, Ms Toblerian," he nodded to the girl who had raised her hand.

"We are all one House, united together. Outside the House, we protect each other: we do not fight each other in public. If there is a disagreement between the members of the House, it will be settled in the House common room before the council of prefects. We must project a united front in the Halls. Always walk in pairs outside the House, as there are many who would like to harm us just because of our House membership. If one of us is attacked in the halls, we are to come to the aid of our fellow Slytherin. The actions of one Slytherin reflect on all, so do not shame your House. Do not get caught breaking the school rules: we are supposed to be cunning and resourceful. The other Houses and Professors will fear us and be suspicious of us, so we must stand together as a united front. There is always a loophole in the rules: use your cunning to make the most of this loophole. We are Slytherin, united against all foes."

"Correct, Ms Toblerian. It has come to my attention that we are in a new situation post-war and thus we need to use all our skills to rise to the top like good Slytherins. I would like each year group to see Madam Pomfrey in turn. You will be escorted in your groups by a prefect to ensure that each and everyone is in top condition. If you are not 100% healthy, you are undermining your ability to perform academically. We are now going to be doing some public relations for our House and its members. To improve our image, each year group is to complete a dossier on your peers in the other Houses in your year. We will meet next Saturday morning to complete a review of the information collected.

"Appointment times will advised by the prefects. I have reviewed the grades and performance of all students over the break and believe we need to up our game. To achieve the goal of greatness, new study groups and activities will be implemented. The timetables issued will be revised regularly but I would like to remind you that your study sessions are compulsory. I will not tolerate any tardiness. Unpack and tidy your rooms before bed. The prefects and I will be meeting here in the common room. Dismissed and good night."

"Good night, Sir."

With that, the common room cleared pretty quickly, as the dour man with the very sharp temper was going to be in there having a meeting with the prefects. No one wanted to earn a detention on the first night back and there seemed to be some master plan that their Head of House had.

Marius Flint wondered what was going on. It sounded like the Potions Master was going into battle and attempting to get as much information as possible on the enemy. The Potions Master used the meeting with the prefects to brief them on the need to build a new flank for Slytherin, as now that the Dark Lord had been defeated, the Light was likely to exact retribution just because they were members of Slytherin, even if they had not been in involved in the war.

The Professor asked his prefects to develop a study schedule, as from this term onwards the academic performance of the House had to improve. Those who were struggling were to attend sessions with those who were skilled in the subject. Tutors were to be identified in each grade for each subject.

The prefects were also charged with gathering ideas on the pie-in-the-sky, dream facilities that Slytherin students would like to see their House access if money was no issue. The Professor wanted their best blue sky thinking. They could go out of the House to access additional ideas.

Miss Rosier was allocated the task of writing invitations to small groups of alumni for appointments with their Head of House and other members. These evening events were to be held twice a week to enable the upper years to network. Links with the wider House membership would help those who were looking for apprentices, to find apprentices. The career development of many came out of these networking sessions. Miss Rosier would have a tricky time as she had a smaller group of alumni who she could contact, as they had lost a lot of the movers and shakers in the Ministry and Wizengamot to Azakban, death or exile. She could see what the Professor was trying to do: he was trying to reestablish the networking traditions and help rebuild the broken links with the alumni. He was trying to ensure that there were future opportunities for his snakelings and that they grasped these opportunities with both hands.

After further discussion of House management issues the Professor dismissed them for their rounds and to their own dormitories. He wanted everyone up bright and early.

oOoOo

Dear Poppy,

My students will be coming into the infirmary as previously discussed in year and sex groups to have their full medicals. As highlighted, I am quite concerned by a number so if we can nip any issues in the bud I would like to do so. The prefects escorting the groups will contact you to confirm your availablity to handle their group.

After checking the dorms afer lights out I think we need to be more proactive with the sexual health education for the students. I think we need to schedule the talk again for all age groups based on the gaps in knowledge I have identified. We do not want unplanned pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases becoming commonplace.

Sorry to ruin your breakfast but I thought I should advise you of this need. I have completed all the potions and will be delivering them to the infirmary after breakfast.

Regards,

Severus


	3. Surviving a dunderhead attack

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 3: Surviving a dunderhead attack**

Poppy Pomfrey looked down the table at the school's Potions Master and wondered why the heck he could not tell her that information to her face. It would not have been hard to have a word with her colleague. However, looking at him, he had his own mail and at add to that, here was Mister Glittery himself, Albus Dumbledore.

"Happy Birthday, Severus."

"Oh that's right it's your birthday. Happy Birthday, Severus. Don't forget we have a staffroom birthday late night supper tonight," the bouncy Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick, reminded the Potions Master. From the look on his face, the last thing he wanted to do was attend a staffroom birthday supper. Well, Filius would be off soon, as he had a free period, to decorate the staffroom with charmed objects celebrating the man's birthday.

At the thought of a late night supper with all his colleagues in the staffroom, the Potions Master wished he would get injured today, as per the time letter, just enough to keep him in his rooms or the infirmary overnight. The thought of a birthday celebration was just horrendous. He just did not do sociable well. Excusing himself from the Head Table before Dumbledore asked the school to sing Happy Birthday to him, the Potions Master slipped from the Great Hall to collect the potions he had promised Poppy and drop them off in the infirmary. While in the potions store, he took the time to get more details about the suppliers and makers of the existing stock.

Returning to his classroom, he made notes while waiting for the first class session, which was NEWT level potions. Marius Flint advised him of the year order for infirmary visits, which had been confirmed by Madam Pomfrey, and this schedule was added to the stack of papers he already had on his desk.

Looking over the marking, he handed out the essays that the students had submitted on the last day of term before collecting the holiday homework.

oOoOo

Catching the scent of a bad potion ingredient combination, Professor Severus Snape quickly scanned his classroom as he attempted to find the offending cauldron and its associated dunderheaded student.

"Mr Holbrook! Move! Everyone take cover!" he shouted as he imitated the little boy who put his finger in the dyke to stop the flood. He well knew that nothing would stop the explosive interaction, rather it was just a case of getting all the students out of danger and hopefully surviving the explosion. Damn that know-it-all witch, he really did not need this as his twenty second birthday present.

KABOOM! And his main teaching lab turned into a room of swirling projectiles. "EVERYONE OUT, NOW!" He had almost made it out the door himself when he was hit in the face by a pewter cauldron base. It was very effective manner of getting out of the staffroom party but definitely not one he would recommend, as it hurt like the buggery and it meant you became a victim of Poppy Pomfrey's care.

This fact was brought back with an a vengeance when he roused to the witch concerned flashing a small torch in his eyes. He just wanted to return back into the blissful arms of Morpheus, where he had been when the bossy witch demanded he return to conciousness.

"Severus, if you didn't want a birthday staffroom supper, you should have just said so to Filius. Even you must agree that this little escapade is a little extreme. I have done a general healing but I feel you need to see a specialist at some stage. That nose of yours has been broken way too many times for an Epsikey to fix it easily.

"Poppy, give me a pain potion and leave me alone so I can go back to sleep. You can make my apologies and the rest of them can have a party without the dungeon bat looming over them."

oOoOo

_At least Poppy had put him in the staff wing of the infirmary,_ Severus thought in the early morning dawn light. He had managed to get himself more or less upright on the bed and was seriously contemplating returning back to horizontal, as his vertical had a distinct lean to the left.

However, he did not get very far in his escape attempt before the hihgly starched dominatrix of this domain arrived. He was hit with a full body bind before he was levitated back onto the hospital bed. "Where on earth do you think you are going?" demanded the angry primary care giver.

"The bathroom," he fibbed to her.

"Balderdash! Severus Snape, I know you and your dislike for my domain, which is strange seeing how frequently you have been a patient in here over the years."

"Poppy, can I please go to the bathroom before I soil myself like an infant?" snapped the grumpy professor, who was sort of heartened that the woman was angry, because it showed that she really did care for him.

With efficency he was placed back into his bed and propped up before the cold tray of a bedpan was slipped under the sheets and his sleep robe slid up to rest below his bottom. The witch then employed several spells, which removed his wastes quickly and efficently from his body into the collection tray. The used tray was sealed and removed. He was then cleaned up with a medical grade scourgify. It was always disconcerting to feel your body hair moving and the tingling of disinfectant against your skin in places not often exposed to the light of day unless you were at the local naturalist camp, and especially not there in the Scottish Highland winter.

"You, my boy, are not going anywhere," declared the Mediwitch.

"If that is the case, send my House prefects up to see me and the Slytherin house elf to collect my lesson plans from my office."

"Severus, you don't have much of an office left. The classroom has been destroyed and the stores have been contaminated," Poppy advised the young teacher.

"Well, there are a least there are some small mercies, I suppose, as Albus won't be able to play around in the potions stores when he attempts to teach my classes. I think my students will live a lot longer if he's not let losoe to brew. How much paperwork do I have to do for the Ministry and the Board? At least we don't have a fatality investigation. How is the culprit of all this mayhem, Mr Holbrook?" inquired the ever professional man.

"Cuts and bruises. He has almost worked himself into a nervous breakdown at the thought of your anger over the situation so I am very glad you delivered that batch of calming potion to the infirmary before the start of teaching yesterday. Severus, being the cynic that I am: are you sure you did not assist Mr Holbrook in the spectacular explosive incident to ensure you receive the laboratory modernisations and adjustments that you wanted?"

"Now, now, Poppy. If that was the case, I would have made sure I wasn't injured in the explosion and I could have done it in a less stressful class group. Tell Mr Holbrook his punishment for failing to listen is two weeks listening to Mr Filch's commands on detention."

"How none of you were killed, I don't know. I think you will be spending several days resting here in my care before I release you back into the general population."

"Since you're here, we might as well get started on the incident report for the Ministry. If we could get them to make a special payment for our project, we could have more funds for Minerva's research projects kitty."

"You just don't want to do the forms by yourself, you schemer, but you're right that I was already up and getting started for the day," advised the Mediwitch. After a quick detour to her office she collected the forms for them both, so they could work on getting them done before breakfast.

As they were completing the forms, Poppy regarded the young Potions Master. "I assume for the official visit you are going to ham it up a bit to pull on the purse strings?" she mused, looking over the tops of her spectacles knowingly, before adding, "it will be needed to get a separate lab for the infirmary's potions production. If you can put up with it I can throw a couple more jinxes just before they arrive, which will emphase the injury but will do nothing in the long run".

"Whatever you think for authenticity, if it gets us a new private potions laboratory."

After completing the paperwork to report the accident, the Slytherin house elf brought his lessons plans for the next couple of weeks. He quickly rehashed all the practical sessions for this week into theoretical exercises that could be undertaken in Madam Pince's domain, the library. It would probably be the first time that some of the students had actually stepped into this essential academic support arena. To think they got to NEWT level potions without visiting the library was shocking but true. He could always spot those who did not make use of this valuable resource area, as their essays were only just passable.

After breakfast, the Slytherin House prefects duly arrived as commanded by their House Master. Everyone was now under movement restrictions. The House was on lock-down for their own protection with his incarceration in the infirmary. He laid the law and rules of engagement down to his lieutenants, explaining what was allowed within the House, along with his expectations. Homework was to be completed. Early restrictions to dormitories limited movement outside the House, and then only with the supervision of prefect, except for classes. Even then, the year groups would be expected to check in with their prefects in the hallways to confirm all was well.

"Mr Flint, you will be reporting to me four times a day in person to let me know what is going on. If there is an incident I want immediate notice by Kally, the house elf. If there is any trouble at all, I have given permission for Kally to deal with miscreants and, believe me, she is inventive enough to make Argus Filch seem tame. Study sessions and my other tasks will still need to be completed. Dimissed."

"Severus, you do run a tight ship with your students," commented Poppy, as she observed the end of the prefects' meeting. "The first and second years visited last night and there are a couple of cases which we need to discuss, but we won't be able to do this until you get some more rest." The bossy witch shifted his pillows and he found he had been levitated into a more horizontal position. It was not long before he was out like a light.

oOoOo

Well, Mafalda, we were very lucky not to have a fatality. Severus got all the students out and this was the reason why he was injured. He is going to need considerable specialist treatment to address the facial damage but, knowing him, he will be back teaching in a week," Poppy Pomfrey explained to Mafalda Hopkirk, the representative of the Ministry who had come to investigate the potions accident.

"Stubborn boy," grumbled a gruff Scottish burr. "The least we can do is ensure he gets a new, safer teaching environment. Horace complained for the last forty years about the safety of the teaching labs. Severus here has not had one fatality yet, which is one of the best ever records for potions, and I know he is fastidious about safe practice when brewing. Mafalda, we need a proper budget for the repairs."

"Mmm wfffy muppet youse dibbling about. Need a good gaff for those scrotes so I can get them potions mad ferit." There was a pause as the three ladies tried to understand the undiluted, broad Mancunian dialect of the Potions Professor, who normally spoke in an polite, received accent. Minerva McGonagall had not heard this accent since the last time she had visited the rundown, former mill and factory areas to introduce a muggleborn witch or wizard to magic. They watched the dark ebony haired man roll over and attempt to clear the cobwebs out of his mind. His injuries obviously hurt him. In a contrasting tone, he made the polite request for a pain potion before he ripped his own head off his shoulders, threatening to leave Albus Dumbledore in charge of teaching potions for the rest of the academic year.

Even Mafalda knew that this young man was a godsend to the school and the quality of the education being offered here. No, he would get his labs if she had to fight Barty Crouch Snr left, right and centre. Poppy bustled back to help him take the potion. "I've completed the incident reports here for you, Madam Hopkirk, but I haven't had a chance yet to survey the devastation. We really need to do something about the potions teaching area; it shouldn't be normal for a school subject to have a fatality rate."

Madam Hopkirk could see that he was a dedicated teacher and truly had the safety of his students at heart. "When you have had a chance to recuperate and look over the damage, we can draw up some plans for your new teaching area. With the elves working in 24-hour shifts and a goblin designer, we could get it fitted out in less than four weeks so the students would only have four lessons interrupted. However, it would mean considerable disruption to your private rooms"

"I can always bunk in one of the senior dorms or up here in the staff wing. The quicker we get it sorted, the quicker we get them back into a routine and prepared for their OWLs or NEWTs," advised the Professor, whose dark eyes were glowing with excitement over the ideas he was having for his new teaching area.

oOoOo

And so a new alliance for the freedom of magical individuals started in that January. Allies were gained and there was some serious scheming going on. Severus Snape was able to talk the goblin designer into a number of changes to make the potions labs more secure from the general population and that of House Slytherin. In the retrofit, he gained more territory in the dungeons and this included a high quality, professional, infirmary grade, potions lab. He also got a second space, that with the help of some research from Filius, the Potions Master was hoping to turn into a muggle-style chemistry lab. It was now just a case of getting it set up and all the muggle equipment shielded from magic.

As part of the refubishment, the Potions Master now had a secondary guest suite, along with a larger library. He also had a new office and den complex. His House could approach his den door and he would be notified of their presence. The teaching office was linked to the den, so he had the ability to be quietly working on his marking, while at the same time observing the students through a special glass wall. He installed whiteboards so there would be no contamination from chalk dust. Essential items, like fume extraction, were set up and, by Merlin, he was going to get better flame control occuring in his labs. He had even got a new Overhead Projection Slide system installed, so he could streamline his teaching prepartion to films that could be reused. The security for the storerooms were top notch, goblin grade. No student was going to get into his supplies for boomslang skin to make Polyjuice, and the infirmary's potion ingredients were going to have minimal risk for contamination.

His occupation of one of the seventh year private rooms during the reconstruction work just made it easier for his snakelings to access their Head of House. Unfortunately, the medical checks revealed all too much what he had suspected amongst his students. With great kindness and empathy, he supported the abused snakelings in seeking justice with Amelia Bones. During his frequent meetings with the Senior Auror, he built a working relationship with the former Hufflepuff.

It was as an aside after one student interview, when Severus planted the idea that Sirius Black was innocent and had never had a trial. The loyal Puff was horrified at the thought of an innocent man in that hell-hole. She called upon her old training mentor, Alastor Moody, to investigate if the Lord Black was really a Death Eater or not.

oOoOo

By the time May rolled around, Sirius Black had been cleared and the Potter wills and testaments had started the process of probate. The guardianship of young Harry Potter was a smooth transfer from his maternal aunt to his godfather. When Dumbledore rumbled on about blood wards and the need to have a secure location for the young Pottter, the Goblin Nation came and did an assessment that clearly demonstrated that the so-called wards at Harry Potter's aunt's residence would not protect the child. Even Amelia Bones got into the act, with the assistance of Camila Mankakan from Magical Child Protective Services. That colourfully dressed witch was like a beagle on the scent of the hunt.

No, Dumbledore was shown to be a little less all-knowing and the House of Black lawyers were like a hunting pack of tiger sharks: fast and highly aggressive in their attacks on the prey lined up in their sights.

oOoOo

With the Slytherin prefects running the House, minor issues were quickly dealt with. Foster placement with Slytherin families were arranged for those who needed this support. For those where there was not enough evidence of neglect or abuse, their summer holidays were arranged so that they were in a supportive environment.

The Slytherin network into the other Houses started to reach out to those who were more likely to accept an approach. It was time that they built network links that supported the correct House ethos, not that twisted madman's view.

The alumni came out to the networking parties and most of the 7th years had jobs to go to come graduation. Old and new links within the Slytherin network was made. Those who had blindly followed the Dark Lord were being snubbed. Now it was time to make use of the social barbs to get the best for the students. After talking to the goblin designer the Head of House had picked up some ideas to address the constant cold that they experienced in the Slytherin area of the castle. After a bit of gratuitous sharing of information with Pomona, the dungeon dormitories were going to be renovated over the summer, funded by the gracious Slytherin former Death Eaters.

Some other skull-and-dagger work was also underway in other areas of the school. As soon as Albus Dumbledore went on his annual holiday, Minerva let the Potions Master know that his refurbishment and repair crew from the Goblin Nation would have five days to do the majority of their work. Borrowing the Slytherin House painting of Lord Salazar Slytherin helped Severus get around the Parselmouth requirements to enter the Chamber of Secrets. He had purloined two of Hagrid's prize roosters and the large basilisk was dealt with quickly and efficently. The budgets for each of the Houses were expanded considerably without the knowledge of Albus Dumbledore. Sirius Black helped with the brooms by purchasing eighty new Cleansweep 7 brooms for the school so that the old death traps could be retired. Fourteen were to be kept for Quidditch matches and all the rest were earmarked for general flying.

The Potions Master also used his prior knowledge of the acromantula colony to negotiate a trade treaty with the centaurs. The Goblin Nation were excited to be given a chance to fight and prove themselves, Slytherin House got a couple of extra secret passages in and out of the Castle, the students were protected and the centaurs were made happy by the removal of the threat to the foals and herds.

The additional tunnelling was hidden amongst the greenhouse redevelopment. The funds from the removal of acromantula Nest helped to pay for new greenhouses so that Pomona now had eight brand new buildings with the latest habitat control systems. The old buildings were recycled into student research greenhouses and each House was give a half-share of the two recycled buildings.

Minerva was quite pleased at the improvements to the school that had been achieved without the normal back-biting budget meeting, where Albus always cut their budgets from the previous year's allowance.

With the assistance of Kally and Lizzie, the other Hogwarts house elves were recruited into making the House dormitories better equipped for the new academic year. The school's house elves called on the help of their cousins for extra assistance and much of the rubbish in the Come and Go Room was cleared. The Goblin Nation was doing quite a good trade with the Hogwarts Heads of House and when the Ravenclaw Diadem was found, as Severus had warned the elves, the cursed item was removed and repaired by a specialist curse breaker. Filius was so overjoyed at the prospect of his House Founder's relic having been found he was quite willing to pay for the same curse breaking team's services to go over the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's offices, rooms and contracts to make sure they would have a good and professional professor in the position for more than 10 months.

Behind Albus Dumbledore's back, the Heads of House had taken control of the school. The group of four House Masters and Mistresses were actually getting most of the administrative tasks that Albus had ignored for years sorted out. When the wizard himself came back from his holidays, he noted a much improved school but Minerva brushed off the change as the house elves are doing their annual top-to-toe summer clean of the school, suggesting they had felt a little ashamed about the previous state of the castle in comparison to the newly refurbished the potions classrooms, while the additional space requested by Irma Pince was passed off as a necessary outcome as a result of all the previously lost books the elves had found in their clean up.


	4. To turn a peacock

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 4: To turn a peacock**

During the Easter half-term, Severus visited his godson, Draco, and his parents, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. During the visit, Severus asked Narcissa if she could be the intermediary for the House of Slytherin with the Ancient and Noble House of Black. There were some things he needed to communicate with the new Lord Black and given their personal troublesome past, he would need a skilled and dignified negotiator to be the intermediary for the prickly individual. Severus could not ask Lucius as there was bad blood between the two Lords, however, maybe this arrangement could bring further peace between the political factions that they both represented.

Lucius was a little miffed but after dinner, in the peacock's den, the master spy laid out a second task, which he felt that only someone of his skill could do. He explained the business with Narcissa as an intermediary was because he needed her help to reach out to the distant members of the House of Black who were currently students at Hogwarts. Severus was very cleverly pulling the at heartstrings of a father as, since the birth of Draco, Lucius had changed considerably, becoming extremely protective of his heir.

"Lucius, I need your contacts to find out the details of a former Slytherin. I need you to generate a full dossier. If you can confirm what I have been told, it will be in our best interests to come to a treaty to deal with him. All I have on him in the internal House records is that he was Head Boy but his dossier has been considerably edited. While I know our former Head of House, Horace Slughorn, was not an enthusiastic paperwork man, what was left on file was not even up to Horace's minimal work standard," advised the House Master.

They discussed the recent restoration, the expansion of Slytherin territory in the dungeons and how Lucius should attend the alumni meetings, as a good publicity networking development opportunity. Using some of the financial information, the Potions Master discussed investment opportunities and the stockmarket fluctations with the skilled businessman.

It was after their third brandy when Lucius bluntly stated, "You know, you look a sight with that ugly mug of yours. When are you going to get it fixed by a specialist healer?"

"I know, Lucius, but I need to keep wearing this guise for the next couple of months and milk it all its worth for our students and Slytherin. I'm hoping to get the brooms replaced so that all Houses have to play on the same quality of brooms and then we may have a chance at the Cup. My ugly mug, as you put it, is currently twisting the heartstrings of the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors that I have to deal with to get our students better home conditions and better treatment in their other subjects and from the staff in general. I will wear my green bruise marks with pride because I will be a Slytherin until the day I die."

"You're a good man, Severus, and you're taking good care of your snakelings. I'll do the fifth and sixth year Arithmancy summer tutoring for you again," advised Lucius. "If you'll come to dinner at least once a week over the summer," he bargained.

"Fine, fine," the dark-haired man grudgingly conceded. "But no matchmaking, so keep control of your wife. I can't guarantee every week, though, because I'm going to have facial surgery for this ugly, mashed-up, mug of mine. St Mungos is sending me to a muggle speciality maxillofacial dentistry. I have an initial consultant appointment next week. I haven't been to a muggle dentist since my childhood."

"Come, come, surely not? Can't St Mungos do the surgery?"

"Unfortunately, no, they can't"

"Just remember you can Crucio this dentist if he mucks it up."

"Wrong again. The barber surgeon is a woman and her husband works with her. She is apparently the specialist consultant, while he does mostly general work and orthodontics. I've done my research on them. She has all the qualifications and apparently a large amount of experience. It's just the thought of dealing with a dentist who will tell me to stop drinking coffee and all that."

"I swear you bleed caffeine in your veins rather than blood some days," laughed the blond man, shaking his head at the thought of his friend giving up or even cutting back on his coffee habit.

It was with reluctance that the Slytherin Head of House returned to Hogwarts. His work was done. He had put the seed of doubt into the former inner circle member about his Dark Lord, even though Lucius did not yet know that his sneaky friend had done this.

Narcissa, acting as an intermediary. Now, that was a stroke of genius. The cousins were always friends in school and she could help keep that mutt on a leash. As a friend of Lily, he could play the card of trying to protect her son. If all else failed. he would pull his scheming with Amelia Bones out for examination. It would make the mutt sick to the stomach to know he was only free thanks to him and his depositing of Peter Pettingrew into her hands. His handover of Peter had confirmed to Amelia and Alastor Moody that he was Dumbledore's man in the Death Eater movement.

This betrayal of another Death Eater had gained him more protection and helped to expand his support network. These allies could be turned to the protection of the boy and thus ensuring that the Dark Lord did not regenerate properly in the future. Moody had been his contact for the Slytherin locket in the Black town house. The Goblin Nation had removed the soul piece and this relic would go on display next September in the new Slytherin research rooms in the former Chamber of Secrets.

oOoOo

"Good afternoon, I'm Dr Emma Granger and I assume you must be Mr Snape. According to your referral, you have had considerable injury to your nose, jaw and cheek bones. Call me Emma because from your file, I think we are going to get to know each other very well."

"Severus."

"I was wondering how you pronounce that name. Was one of your parents a classicist?"

"You could call her that. It's also a bit of a family name."

"So what do you to earn a crust?"

"I'm a secondary and futher education chemisty teacher. I got my injury thanks to a sixth Form student accident. I was the worst injured. I had just got the classroom cleared when I received shrapnel to the face."

"Did you ever break your nose before that incident in January?"

"I unfortunately got my over-long snout from both sides of my family. In school, it received repeated breaks thanks to sports."

"Rubgy or League?"

"Both. I'm a Mancunian by birth, so I support Wigan in the League."

"You and my husband, Dan, have something in common then. Now, can you please sit in my examination chair? What are your pain tolerance levels like? High, I hope? I would rather do this initial assessment without Novocaine as much as possible, as it can distort your facial muscles and we will need a clear baseline."

With that, Severus started the long process of getting his face reconstructed. His teeth were going to be fixed and implants were going to be used. The Roman nose was getting a trim and a bit of reconstruction so that he could breathe without feeling like he was constantly full of mucus.

It was after the x-rays and other imaging that Emma broached the history of some of his older facial injuries. She could see the scars on his bones that appeared in the imagery were more than just school sports and workplace injuries. He had been a child victim of domestic violence.

"Severus, while we have you under the anaesthesia, do you want me to arrange for any additional cosmetic work on your face, as the cosmetic surgeon will be working with me to do your repairs. Do you need any limb bones rebroken and reset? What about those scars on your back?" She had seen the scars when he had the MRI done and the back of the gown had gaped a bit. It was definitely abuse.

"Emma, all that can be done, has been done. Scar-wise, I don't have any skin pulling and everything works fine. It's not pretty but I'm fine. I lived with my bent nose for years; it was part of who I was and what I survived. My students who have the same homelife as I did can trust me, as I can empathise with them. I have the marks and I have survived, so they can also survive. My own personal experience has helped many others, as I have been a very proactive teacher with regard to safeguarding issues."

The surgery was planned for the summer and the technicans had made a bust of his current face and what they planned for his reconstructed face. Severus looked at the new face and could not believe that this woman and her surgical team would be able to do so much for him. He would still have a Roman nose but no longer would it be described as huge beak.

Dan and Severus had got on well during the initial visits and procedures. Dan could not believe how fast the man was healing but his future smile was going to be stunning. Emma also seemed to have come to like the grumpy chemistry teacher, as they could easily converse on a wide range of subjects. The man said he was healing so well thanks to the school nurse, Poppy Pomfrey. Severus brought the nurse to their surgery to meet the surgeon, so that they could talk about his after-care requirements.

It was at the end of the care plan meeting with Poppy that Emma said, "If there are any kids you know who need my sort of skills, bring the to the office and we'll get them sorted." So this is where the witch who had sent him the letter and parcel had got her caring heart – from her mother. The thought of children being abused and needing medical attention was more than she could stand. She had to do what she could to right the wrongs in the world.

oOoOo

So one peacock was being turned. The other peacock had to brought to heel within the new alliance. Narcissa's support and, strangely, the good word put in by Dumbledore about his membership in the Order of Phoenix, helped bring the former Marauders to heel. The past was put behind them for the sake of Lily's child, the young Harry Potter.

Through Narcissa, Severus passed the information about Helga Hufflepuff's cup to Lord Black with the demand that the cleaned cup be transferred to the Hufflepuff Head of House, Pomona Sprout, so the relic could be kept in the school.

With Senior Auror Moody's assistance, the Slytherin locket was reclaimed and now the school had all the Founders' relics. The Aurors' support of the Potions Master also helped in the reduction of hostilities between the dark-haired Marauder and the Slytherin Potions Master. The brewing of Wolfsbane also helped with Remus Lupin. The werewolf was always more mature and much calmer than the rest of the Marauder hot heads.

Dumbledore's insistence that Harry was safest at his aunt's house was the rod that broke the camel's back for the two Marauders regarding the infallibility of the so-called greatest wizard of the age. Minerva McGonagall agreed with her two cubs, as she had not liked those people at all when she observed them the day the child had been placed with them. When Minerva found out that the child had been forced to live with the foulest and darkest of magic in his scar, she just about hit the roof and Albus Dumbledore now had a hostile Deputy Headmistress. Goblin healers removed the soul leech from the child and he seemed to sleep much better afterwards. With all his care in ensuring that Harry was fit and healthy, he had further gained the trust of the prickly Order members who had not previously known of his role as a double-agent.

oOoOo

The alliance between the Heads of House led to the selective obliviation of Rubeus Hagrid concerning his friend, Aragog, and the acromantula colony. The problem with the friendly half-giant was that he had loose lips and he could sink the whole alliance plan just by mentioning the goblin visits to the castle. The goblins had opened specific vaults for each of the Heads of House and had placed their shares of the additional funds into these vaults. The Lestrange vault was confiscated by the Goblin Nation when the horcrux was found in it. Half of the contents went in fines and the value of the other half of the contents was shared out between the four school Houses. The aim of the House vaults was to help those students who were not provided for, due to the war or other personal circumstances.

Slytherin had a long history of taking care of their own but through the new networking between the Houses, some of the other students joined the Slytherin summer tutoring programme. Lucius Malfoy was surprised to find that he was tutoring a couple of muggleborn orphans amongst the Slytherins who were studying Arithmancy.

Herbology-wise, Severus had played on Narcissa's love of plants to help Pomona stock the new greenhouses and there were a fair number of students working around the buildings from Slytherin, who were gaining extra tutoring in the subject from the two formidable ladies.

Filius had been in seventh heaven with the discovery of additional texts and items in the Come and Go Room. Severus asked him if he knew of a way that he could have his muggle machinery shielded, so that he could set up a chemistry lab for research. This intellectual pursuit soon dragged Bathsheba Babbling, Aurora Sinistra and Septima Vector all into the research, as it provided potential for the each of the academics. Aurora could see the possibility of remote controlling a main telescope and displaying the observation on a screen in a nice, warm classroom rather than freezing her fingers to the bone on a windswept tower four nights a week all year. (Poppy would also be grateful, as it would cut down on the number of colds the students came down with.) Septima could see the potential of possible getting a scientifc calculator working in the classroom, so that the tedious slide rules and pages of long calculations could be retired.

With Minerva's increasing hostility to Dumbledore, further sedition was undertaken by her influence on current Board Members. Lucius Malfoy found it surprising that he had the support of all the Heads of House, Regent Longbottom and Madam Bones for the full audit of the Hogwarts budget. Albus was glad that the war was over but he would have to ensure that he had covered his tracks properly in the chaos of the last days of the war.

oOoOo

The horcrux in Little Hangleton was dealt with by the Goblin Nation and the payment for their services was the stash of goods and galleons that was found hidden in the shed and around its grounds. The ring had its horcrux removed and it was placed in a special vault by the Goblin Nation for Harry Potter when he turned 17.

Severus, with the assistance of Filius, had been particularly careful to negotiate the separation of this vault from the rest of the Potter vaults, as neither of them trusted the Headmaster, due to his known fascination for the Deathly Hallows. When it was found that Potter was a Peverell by direct descent, it was thought best that the ring containing the Resurrection Stone be transferred to his ownership.

Severus knew from school that James Potter had the invisibility cloak that was suspected to be another one of the Hallows, although he did not know where this was now, and the Headmaster had the Death Stick or Elder Wand. No, put one of the Hallows out of reach for another 15 years and let us deal with the Dark Lord's soul containers in the meantime.

oOoOo

In mid-July when Severus visited Emma for a post-operative review, he and Poppy were surprised to see the Grangers' young daughter with them in the office. _So this was the know-it-all bookworm of the future,_ Severus chuckled to himself. Emma was very pleased with Severus' progress and there were only a few caps and implants left to be put into place , which would be completed once all of his current swelling had gone down.

As part of the celebration for the success for the operation, Severus took the opportunity to invite the Granger family to lunch at a curry house near Kings Cross and made a quick phone call to the Patil Family Curry House on Charing Cross Road to book a dining area.

"I've done some reasearch with Mrs Sadguna Patil, one of the owners of this curry house, about the use of capsaicin for pain relief, so I am a bit of a friend of the family and we'll be able get a booking there pretty easily, even though the curry house is normally fully booked out," he explained. "Sadguna has twin girls who are round about the same age as your daughter, I think, so she would have someone to play with for a while if she gets bored while we are eating lunch."

"I would like to hear about more of your research into the application of capsaicin for pain relief," advised Emma, wondering if he had utilised his knowledge to help with his pain management for his surgery.

oOoOo

During lunch the young muggleborn witch performed accidential magic and then and there, the Grangers had their induction into the world of magic. Slipping out to get Sadguna to bring her daughters into the private dining room and calmly talk to the couple about having one foot in both worlds, Severus managed to sneak out for a few minutes and floo back to the castle to collect the letters for the Goblin Nation regarding the Dagworth-Granger estate. With the letters safely tucked into his jacket's inner pocket, at the end of the meal he managed to convince the Grangers to come with him to Charing Cross Road and cross into Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron.


	5. Disclosure

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 5: Disclosure**

Lucius Malfoy enjoyed a challenge and during the summer months when he was not tutoring Severus' snakelings, making business deals, lording over the plebs by being seen at the must-attend social functions of the year, politicking and undertaking his preferred forms of recreation, he was attempting to crack the puzzle of Tom Riddle, the former Slytherin Head Boy.

Through his contacts in the Department of Education in the Ministry of Magic, he found that this former Hogwarts student was a formidable intellect, as he had received impressive marks for his OWLs and NEWTs. He had received Outstandings for every subject he had sat, achieving a record level of achievement.

From his old contact at Borgin & Burkes, apparently the name was familiar as a young shop assistant in the mid to late 1940s and nothing was known about the man thereafter. Based on the date range, it would indicate that this was possibly the former Head Boy's first position after graduation. That did not sit well with Lord Malfoy. With the Slytherin networking tradition, there should be no reason why this high-flyer was in such a lowly position.

Why would someone so gifted be found in such a lowly job? He would not have had to take this position. The world would have been his oyster. He could have been sponsored easily into the Ministry or an apprenticeship. Why Borgin & Burkes? What was so special about this particular store?

_Well, it is one of the premier providers of Dark Arts artifacts,_ he mused. Chuckling at his inspiration, this blond peacock decided that he should spend a day in the Ministry of Magic's library and archives. He needed to get a better grasp of the time, a feeling for the pulse of magical Britain in the 40s. His father would have been able to give overview of the ebbs and flows of life at that time. After pottering in the family collection section of the library, he found his father's journal for that decade.

Settling back in his comfortable fireside chair with a good decanter of brandy, Lucius reviewed his father's commentary of the time, looking for pertinent facts. He had written the man's name on a blotting page and now was doodling dates and facts alongside his rough notes. Playing with the name, he tried to find if the man could be using a nom de plume and that is when he went as white as a sheet at the feeling of cold terror.

_Tom Marvolo Riddle_

_Marvolo Tom Riddle_

_Olovram mot elddir_

_Mrvolo mortal idde_

_Mort lord idle Mavo_

_Mort lord voled mai_

_Lord Voldemort mai_

**_I am Lord Voldemort_**

But Riddle was not a pureblood family name. It was for that reason, he was planning to visit the Ministry library and archives. So his father's friend and the man to whom he looked up was not even a pureblood. Did his father even know this? His diary journals displayed no indication that he had ever realised that the Dark Lord was a halfblood.

oOoOo

The next morning, before he left the Malfoy Estate, Lord Lucius Malfoy commanded the house elves to search the house from top to bottom for any book or item which mentioned Tom Riddle or Tom Marvolo Riddle and have it placed in the family library on the large, glass, reach table. Additionally, any dark artefact in the house was to be identified and marked on a master plan of the Estate, so he could inspect all the heirlooms and items as Burgin had warned him of future Auror raids. Given his current standing with the DMLE, he needed to be on the right side of the line, even though he was a little grey.

oOoOo

By lunch-time, Lucius had taken himself to a quiet park near Buckingham Palace where he could walk around unseen by the wizarding public. The facts he had were too dangerous even to pass onto one of his investigators. He needed to turn this horrible situation to an advantage that he could maximise to the benefit of himself and his family

oOoOo

When Narcissa came home, she found her husband shut up in his den. She had not seen him all day and he had not come to bed the night before. Knocking on the door, she opened it and saw that he had not even heard her act of social refinement. He looked tense and highly worried about some matter.

"Lucius, what is it, my love?" she tried to entice him to explain his concerns.

"I have been a total reckless fool who has brought shame on my family name and imperilled you, my beloved, and our heir, Draco," he said flatly, looking into his tumbler of firewhiskey.

"Crying over split milk won't help us. What is this threat to our son?" she demanded, her voice ice cold. Most people forgot that as a Black, Narcissa had been trained in the family magicks and could be just as dangerous a witch as her sister, Bellatrix. Her wand was out and if Lucius could blanch any further, he would be more transparent than any ghost.

"Narcissa, I need your silence and support for now. I will explain all and together we will work out a way to come out on top, while at the same time protecting our son. I haven't done anything since the war to bring myself to the attention of the Aurors and I've paid enough in contributions to ensure we are safe from the new administration in the Ministry. We need to follow Severus' guidance and forge new alliances for the future of our son."

He had to loosen her stays and give her a snifter of his best brandy when she made the same conclusion as he had over the anagram, especially since he had prebriefed her about the information he had collected about Tom Marvolo Riddle, both from the Ministry archives that morning and from the copies of records he had later purchased from the Lambeth Record Office.

Together, the two planned how they would save themselves and, more importantly, how they would protect their son. The dark artefact survey of the house had produced a book belonging to Riddle that needed to be removed and destroyed before any Ministry raid discovered it in their ownership.

Given what the dark magic object was, they would have to reach out to Severus as the godfather of their son, Draco, to help them in their hour of need. Narcissa knew about the creation of horcruxes from her Black family studies and enforced time in the family library. Lucius' arithmantical brain had already calculated that when assessing the actions of the madman, his politics which were apparently in favour of the purebloods' supremacist movement, were in fact clearly indicative of those of a megalomaniac psychopath, especially if he had split his soul. If he had done it once, he could have done it up to seven times. Some researchers indicated that seven was the most powerful number but others countered that five was a ritualistically stronger number.

Either way, they would need the help of Severus Snape, as the Dark Lord's spy on Dumbledore, to help them find these items. Severus would need to be turned to the light or to a shade of grey. If they went grey they could not associate themselves with the ethos of the current Headmaster of Hogwarts. Yes, a new movement that was grey in nature and more accepting of both purebloods and muggleborns. The purebloods feared the end of their traditions, so why not educate the muggleborn in the old ways? Dumbledore had stopped all of the old practices at Hogwarts, so the muggleborn and halfbloods who were raised in the muggle world never learned this history and culture.

oOoOo

At breakfast in the Great Hall, Severus recognised one of the regal post owls belonging to the Malfoys winging its way through the building to him. Stopping elegantly, it landed away from his breakfast and imperiously extended its leg, demanding the removal of the shrunken letter it carried.

"So we won't see you tonight in the Great Hall, as you'll be off to Wiltshire to visit the Malfoys for dinner?" inquired Filius. "That's a pity, as we think we may have a breakthrough for your technical research problem, which we were hoping to discuss with you this evening after dinner."

"No, Filius, I'll be here tonight. I've had my two dinners with the Malfoys this week and Narcissa is not going to dangle another debutante in front of me if I can help it. Circe! I was their teacher. I'm not going to have a relationship with one of my pupils."

"Well, Severus, given how the facial repair surgery went, you're quite a catch, young man. If you don't watch out, I might put a bid in for you myself, at the next Bachelor's auction," advised Pomona Sprout with a saucy wink.

"Don't give me nightmares, woman! I already have enough, thanks, Pomona. I'll be gracing you with my presence this evening. Lucius has some House business in relation to the snakelings he has been tutoring for me over the summer," explained the dark man.

"If he can get Ms Toblerian to complete her calculations using the recommended layout for error reduction, I would put him up for sainthood; or we could consider sharing some of our research, so he could use an electric computational device. No, he'd have to do a lot more before I made life easier for him! Maybe we could get him to help persuade the Board to use some of the funds generated by our research on updating the facilities in our subject areas," suggested a fellow Slytherin alumnus, Septima Vector.

"Septima, do you have anything you want me to take when I visit the Malfoys for the Alumni Association meeting?" he inquired before turning to Pomona. "Do you have any messages for Narcissa?"

"I'm seeing her tomorrow with the summer herbology students. Just remind her we'll be shaping bonsai, so if she wants to work on one of her own specimens, she should bring it with her," advised the Herbology Professor.

oOoOo

Professor Snape surveyed his refurbished domain in the dungeon after breakfast. In the infirmary grade potions lab he checked and made adjustments to the various cauldrons he had brewing. Updating the brewing plan on the whiteboard, he called upon Kally to make sure everything was taken off the heat and decanted later in the day when their final simmerings had completed. Each cauldron had its own timer, so the elf would only have to have an alert on for the sound. He then flooed to Malfoy Manor, where an elf directed him to Lucius' study.

"Good morning, Severus."

"I don't know how good it is. According to your invitation, it sounds like you have some concerns you wish to discuss?"

"Severus, you knew, didn't you?" asserted the blond peacock, thinking that this cunning player of the game had set him up.

"I admit I'm knowledgable about many things but since I don't have a common frame of reference, I can neither confirm nor deny my prior knowledge on whatever matter is troubling you. I thought you brought me here for a discussion about a former Slytherin Head Boy?"

"Sit, Severus. I can't keep straining my neck staring up at you from my desk," snapped the agitated blond.

"Well, why don't we try this again? What can I help you with this fine summer's morning?"

"I need some counselling about a former Slytherin Head Boy, my friend, who you asked for some assistance in locating," advised the blond man, returning to a semi-political position.

"Yes, I asked some assistance in clearing up where the former high-flyer had departed to, so that I could update the school's alumni records."

One neat piece of parchment was passed over to the professor for his persual and Lucius was pleased to see the other man's shocked realisation that he was their former Lord. Severus, meanwhile, was hoping that he had given a good enough performance. Lucius retrieved the parchment, placing it in an ashtray before charming it to burn. Handing a file to Severus, he presented the dossier of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

While the Potions Master was reviewing the details that Lucius had discovered, Narcissa joined the two men in Lucius' den.

"Good morning, Severus."

"Good morning Narcissa. How is my godson? Well, I hope?"

"He will be, once we deal with an item owned by the person you are reading about in that dossier," advised the pragmatic witch.

"Come and see what was found yesterday," she directed, leaving the two men to follow her into the family collection area of the large Estate library. There, on the glass table, was a small, A5 sized journal that was radiating dark magic. On the cover was the name _TM Riddle_.

"Severus, don't touch that book. You know what this object is, don't you?" asked Narcissa.

"Given what I know about young Harry Potter's curse scar, I would suspect that it's a similar object: a soul container or horcrux," advised the man, holding her steady gaze.

"So that's why you wanted me to be an intermediary for you, and why you asked Lucius to verify your information," suggested the tall, willowy woman.

"We don't know how many of these things he made. He didn't die last year. He's likely to be a wraith somewhere, waiting and working his way back to an opportunity to reanimate his body. He's insane," she asserted.

"Five or seven? Severus, how many?" demanded Lucius in a harsh tone.

"I suspect six out of a possible seven have been made. The Dark Lord didn't get a chance to finish making all his objects but there's still some chance that he'll make the last one some time in the next ten years or so. I can confirm that four have been dealt with, including Harry Potter's curse scar. If you take this to the Goblin Nation, they can destroy it for you, so we would be five down. That would leave the wraith and his familiar. I think last Halloween the Dark Lord was preparing to make her into a horcrux but something went wrong and that's why he's in wraith form now."

"So you're Dumbledore's man?" observed Lucius

"No, I'm Lily's man. I'm neither light nor dark anymore, I'm grey. I don't hold with Dumbledore but, unfortunately, he has my arse in a sling. I've been working very hard over the last six months to make sure I would have more allies and won't be dependant solely on the Headmaster to keep me out of Azkaban."

"That's why you wanted me to negotiate a peace between you and my cousin?" asked Narcissa.

"I grew up and realised I had made a terrible mistake by tying myself to the robes of a madman. I want to make sure there's a better way than one or the other. I want a future for Draco and Harry, where we don't keep having a war every twenty years. I want my students to have a future where they won't be condemned by their House alliance. Why have we had an evil Dark Lord after evil Dark Lord approximately every twenty years this century? To be totally truthful, I blame Dumbledore for my anger and frustration, arising from the fact that I was made to believe I was worthless and unwelcome, which led me to be enticed to join the Dark Lord. His Death Eaters were the only ones throughout my entire childhood to extend me even common courtesy, let alone respect. I want a future where the education providers will provide a good education in a supportive and protective environment. Why did I have to survive the battlefields of the corridors as a student, while nothing was done to reign in the Marauders and to protect me from their bullying and assaults? No, Dumbledore is much to blame for causing the circumstances that allowed so many to be attracted to Tom Riddle's madness."

"Thank you, my friend, for being so hoNest with us," answered Lucius, who could hear the pain and anger in his school friend, at the manipulations of Dumbledore and the failure to provide a safe environment for him.

Lucius remembered the wounds the boy would have everytime he returned to the school from his family home. In the end, from fifth year onwards, Severus had basically spent the summer holidays with Lucius. He knew from seeing Severus when they went swimming, that his friend's back was covered in welts left by a number of objects, all wielded by his alcoholic father attempting to beat the magic out of his wayward son.

After passing on Pomona's message about the bonsai trimming, the dark man excused himself and went off to the British Museum Reading Room to have some time to himself, allowing him to deal with his past without being disturbed.

oOoOo

A polite note was sent from Lucius Malfoy to his goblin account manager for an appointment. This could have been the first signal that a momentus event was underway. Hitchclaw replied that he was available in the afternoon after 2pm and would be expecting the Lord then. Arriving early with his wife and being quite happy to wait without fuss until the designated time should have been the next biggest tip off.

At the end of the meeting, the Goblin Nation had the information that Lord Voldemort was one Tom Marvolo Riddle. The full and frank discussion of the dossier that had been collected was shared with the Hitchclaw, down to the horror of discovering that the megalomaniac had created horcruxes. When Lady Malfoy explained that they had discovered the diary of the Dark Lord yesterday in their house after finding out his birth name, they had immediately decided that they wanted the object to be destoyed by the Goblin Nation. There were some other items which they also wanted cleaned of dark magic because they were family heirlooms, but they had others they wish to trade with the goblins as they were goblin made. As a mother, Narcissa did not want her child corrupted by these artefacts.

A second enquiry was made on the behalf of both Lord Malfoy and Professor Snape to see if the Healers could remove the Dark Lord's mark from their magic and from their bodies. It seemed that the Healers would like further consultation with both men on another date, but they would do some research into the matter in the meantime.

The dossier and the protection of the young had done the Malfoys some favours. The vaults of Tom Marvolo Riddle were confiscated by the Goblin Nation. Some of the vault was given to the Malfoys as part of a finder's fee payment for identifying the link between the Dark Lord and his birth name. An additional part of the ill-gotten gains were distributed to Harry Potter.

Talking to Hitchclaw about the horcruxes, Lucius advised that they have a joint meeting planned on another date with Lord Black and Severus Snape, in order to discuss these items. This meeting was arranged for the start of next week, before Severus would have to return to teaching.


	6. Parley

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 6: Parley**

Through their Account Manager, Hitchclaw, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy organised the planned meeting with Lord Sirius Black and Professor Severus Snape. It would be a meeting hosted at Gringotts, with two goblins present to represent the warlike nation, Hitchclaw and Griphook. The goblins would be present as interested third parties and to mediate means of compromise to help avoid war, as that would not be good for business. Narcissa had negotiated that Remus Lupin and Alastor Moody would also attend this meeting, to support Lord Black. Severus could see the benefits of their presence, as they would have some control over the very excitable Lord.

Sirius Black was a dangerous man and his time in Azkaban had to have affected his mental stability. _How he wasn't found to be a little mad,I don't know, but he always was a good actor_, as Severus well knew from their school days. It was sensible to have someone present who could calm the man, particularly considering the Black family history of mental instability. Narcissa's sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, was the classic example of the family madness. Severus' old friends and housemates, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, would support him in the meeting. All three Slytherins had the same goal: to survive and ensure the survival of Draco.

Due to Narcissa's links to the House of Black and her previous role as negotiator between Severus Snape and Sirius Black, she acted as the gracious hostess, encouraging everyone to be seated, whilst ensuring that they all had suitable refreshments. There was palpable tension in the room, even though all the wand users had passed their wands over to the goblins upon entry to this neutral boardroom environment. Just as Severus was about to take the initiative, Sirius Black stood up from the table.

Standing proudly in his official Head of House robes, he closed his eyes to settle himself before holding his arms out in supplication. "I, Lord Sirius Orion Black, Overlord of the House Black, declare that we have a life debt to honour on behalf of our heir. Today, I declare that both House Black and House Potter will protect Potions Master Severus Snape. House Black has much for which to repay the Potions Master, and we will not forget our debt. So mote it be." There was a feeling of magic in the air and Severus knew that Sirius Black had made a heartfelt vow to protect him.

If Severus had not already been sitting down he would have had to sit down then, as his legs turned to jelly upon hearing Sirius' vow. To say that he was shocked would be the understatement of the decade. Never in a million years did he believe that he would have received such an open admission of the debt the House of Black owed him.

"Severus, thank you for giving me back my life and a chance to be with my godson. I would like you to meet with us regularly so that you are part of Harry's life. You are a good man and he can learn much from you. Lily would be proud of you. Remus and I are positive she would want you to be part of young Harry's life."

Severus followed future Hermione's advice to allow the bitter childhood enmity with the Marauders to die. "Thank you, Sirius. Thank you all for attending today. I would like to be part of Harry's childhood. Maybe we should organise a play date for Harry with my godson – Cissy and Lucius' son, Draco. But today is not just about the children, rather it's about making the future a better place for the children.

"Alastor can vouch that I was Dumbledore's spy during the war. I was recruited to the Dark Lord's Death Eaters through flattery and the opportunity to have a career. It didn't take me long to realise that there were fatal flaws in the rhetoric, so I became a spy for the Light. Yes, I was the one who heard the prophecy and reported it to Dark Lord but, initially, I only heard part of the prophecy and when Albus told me the rest of it, I was horrified to realise I had set a madman onto Lily and her child.

"We can learn much from the last war and the conflicts of the last hundred years, both magical and muggle. Today, I want to propose that between our two factions we develop a third faction or way. Why must there be so much division in our society? Why have we had a dark lord rise every twenty years or so? Our society cannot cope with this and eventually we will breach the Statue of Secrecy, leading the Muggles to hunt us down again, especially if they tar the whole magical community with the same brush, deeming us all to be fanatical terrorists.

"We need to build a compromise between the light and the dark magic users. Magic is just magic. It is just your perspective and application that segments it into light or dark. The intent of a spell can be corrupted, as we've all learnt with the current three Unforgivables. Did you know that these three spells were originally medical healing spells? The Avada Kedavra was for the mercy of helping to euthanise a patient in incurable pain, to stop a long, lingering and painful death. The Crucio was to treat heart failure, to help shock this muscle back into a regular rhythmical beat pattern, and the Imperius was for mental health patients.

"How spells are used is just based on the intent of the caster. We need a grey magic faction where we respect and tolerate each other's differences and where our magic is drawn from, as some compromise is needed. We as a community need to work together to ensure we have a future. We need moderation. Not all students in the House of Slytherin are evil. Not all students in the House of Gryffindor are light and honourable. Why do we determine the nature of a child for the rest of their life based on the House that they are sorted into at the age of eleven? Why should a family think it acceptable to disown and abandon their child if they are sorted into another House?"

Severus Snape was playing on both sides' heartstrings. He even pulled the goblins in with his discussion of why there should be equality for magical beings. Then he hit the meeting with the key point of Tom Marvolo Riddle and his more recognisable name of Lord Voldemort. The dissemination of the Malfoys' dossier on Tom Riddle to the House of Black and its court created some horror in the boardroom when the details came out into the light of day. Professor Snape had added to this dossier as he done some additional digging around Hogwarts. He had pulled the old medical file of Tom Riddle from when he was a student in the late 1930s. The Mediwitch of the time had noted that he had been a victim of a number of unexplained injuries. Based on this type of medical report, Severus would be investigating the home life of the student.

The previous Slytherin Housemaster, Horace Slughorn, would never have considered that someone would abuse a child. He certainly had not picked up on Severus' obvious abuse, so Tom would have had no hope if he was the typical Slytherin and attempted to hide the evidence. According to school journals of Lucius' father, Abraxus, it was apparent to other House members that Tom Riddle was not in a good environment when he returned to the orphanage during the summer months. Members of Slytherin had offered to host him during the school holidays, only to be overruled by Professor Dumbledore, then the Deputy Headmaster. Headmaster Dippet left the care and administration of all the students who lived in the muggle world to his Deputy, as he was much too busy with other Hogwarts business.

In this sharing of information, Hitchclaw added the information that Gringotts had on the man and his family. There was information about the death of his grandfather and his uncle's death in Azkaban for this murder and others.

A treaty between the factions was developed in the meeting room that day. A standard Goblin contract was used to cover the development of the third political way. The Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot was going to have a dose of salts go through it where they could to help clear up the political and governmental leadership of the magical community. Socially, between the two ends of spectrum, they would work to improve magical society to provide greater equality for all magical beings.

As Remus clearly pointed out, dark creatures like werewolves, if they had access to safe potions for the full moon, along with a safe and secure location to transform, could overcome the natural desire to infect others with their condition and stop self-harming themselves. If they were not seen as evil creatures but rather as magicals with a medical condition, they could then possibly get employment. Currently the situation put them at a strong disadvantage. Werewolves struggled to find employment based on the stereotyping and stigma. If they had employment, they could afford to pay for the Wolfsbane Potion and therefore would not be the threat to society that everyone was afraid of. Those who were a genuine threat because of their refusal to take the Wolfsbane could then be dealt with as the common criminals that they were. Currently most werewolves lived on the border of criminality just to survive. Give them the chance to make an hoNest living and there would not be many who would willingly remain on the wrong side of the law.

oOoOo

While the negotiation between the former enemies was occurring, there was one individual who was regarded as a threat to the proposed peace due to his hide-bound views. Albus Dumbledore did not appear to have the ability to adapt and compromise. Not only that, he seemed to want to keep the magical society of today in the constrained and restricted Victorian form of his childhood.

Dumbledore professed to be a supporter of first generation magicals yet he did not change the systems in place that helped to discriminate against and exclude those individuals. How many muggleborn witches and wizards had reached high positions of power within the Ministry of Magic in the last 200 years? Not a single one. How many women had risen in the ranks? Not many and only then due to the shortage of male contenders occasioned by the war. He had the power as the Chief Warlock to help make changes through legislation and advice but he had failed to do so.

As the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, he saw what was going on in other countries in relation to their integration between magical and non magical backgrounds in their individual communities. But, no, the wizard had that problem which is so clichéd for many individuals from Old World communities: Dumbledore believed that the traditional way in which things had always been done, and his own tradition in particular, was better than these new developments. _No, UK society does not have to change. The practices are not that discriminatory. The UK is better than many other European Countries_. _America and Canada are young countries that do not have the same heritage and are learning from their own mistakes,_ were his mantras.

There was also something happening in the school. There had been a considerable change in the politics within the staffroom. New alliances had been forged and, for once in his life, Albus Dumbledore was not the centre of the universe. He had been pushed out to the side. The four Heads of House and the school's Mediwitch were now working in conjunction with each other. When he attempted to slash the budget yet again, they rallied against him and demanded that it be set at the same level as the previous year. Minerva then had the gall to suggest that maybe they should bring in goblin auditors to ensure that the school was getting their galleons' worth within the supply chain. He had to let them get away with the same budget amounts for each department, just to get them to shut up about the auditors. No, he had to keep his war fund going and he just had to have his little luxuries when he finally got round to retiring. No, Albus Dumbledore was not going to be dirt poor again, when he was no longer earning a wage. He had hoped to drop the school budget by a further 20% to make up for the loss of the income that he used to receive from the Potter Estate. If he could get another forty years out of the school he would have a nice little next egg, as compound interest was a lovely thing.

oOoOo

It was interesting to watch Lords Malfoy and Black play politics in the Wizengamot Chamber. They started slowly and surely to make changes to the way in which individuals thought and acted; this was reflected in the alliances they made within the Chamber. The Chief Warlock, Albus Dumbledore, was surprised to see a secondary voting faction led by Regent Augusta Longbottom, who had seemed to gather the more traditional and neutral voters into a moderate alliance. Madam Longbottom and many other matriarchs who were sitting for their children or grandchildren, due to the loss of their spouses or sons in the war, went through every piece of legislation with a fine toothcomb, much like they were checking for nits, to ensure that there was no sloppy legislation.

When Millicent Bagnold decided to retire from office, Albus Dumbledore was sure he had the perfect candidate who he could control in the puffed-up personage of Cornelius Fudge. However, much to his surprise, the Longbottom faction put forward an alternative in the form of Amos Diggory. There was a token dark candidate but most of the votes went to Amos. Dumbledore had been surprised by the backroom lobbying undertaken by Lords Black and Malfoy. He had discovered that they were working together to support Diggory. Why, was the question?

If he had bothered to look around and actually see the subtle changes which were occurring in magical society, the Chief Warlock would have understood that people were wanting change, fairness, equality and a break from the past, where killing seemed to dominate life. There was a growing understanding that the conflicts between the different groups needed to be resolved and that there had to be some compromise and change. Change meant life. The seasons change and cycle through the year. Why couldn't the magical world make some changes to reflect society and the lives they were living?

oOoOo

Voting in the Hufflepuff, Amos Diggory, as the Minister of Magic was a brilliant move for the anti-Dumbledore faction, as the man himself was not overly enamoured of the Headmaster, and the support of campaigners like Augusta Longbottom meant that the new Minister had a team of shrewd advisors who were able to provide sensible and valid advice.

Lord Black, as a former Hitwizard and a prisoner who had been incarcerated without trial, had ample perspective to offer the new Minister regarding the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the development of constitutional legislative provisions to protect the individual. No longer would it be legal to imprison an individual without a formal trial and, from now on, the prisoner was to be questioned in a full court under Veritaserum. There would be no more backroom deals à la Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. As part of the deal to get this legislation in place, there was a moratorium on Death Eaters who were not currently in residence at Azkaban. Everyone who was a known Death Eater was granted amNesty from prosecution over past matters by the DMLE. They would have to keep their noses clean and, if they did, there would no threat to bring them before the courts for past charges relating to the war. That had ended the threat Albus Dumbledore held over Severus Snape, and possibly a few others.

Concerned that the rebuilding needed proper funding, Lord Black encouraged Amos Diggory to consult with arithmantical genius, Lord Malfoy, to put the Ministry's finances back in the black. Lord Malfoy and Madam Longbottom followed the bottom line to ensure that every Knut, Sickle and Galleon was accounted for and that there was no wastage within the Ministry. Developments of legislation enfranchising the various dark creature communities, so that there was a greater population for taxation, also helped to increase the equality of magical beings.

It took a number of years but the Ministry of Magic became a lean and efficient organisation that had a surplus it invested for the future. This investment fund with the goblins included consideration of the Potion Master's investment strategy. Griphook the Goblin had become Professor Snape's primary account manager and it appeared to the goblin that the man had an uncanny knack for the muggle stock markets. From his work with the tall, dark-haired man, the Dagworth-Granger Estate, along with the Potion Master's private accounts, had considerable growth. Each month, Professor Snape and the muggle dentist, Dan Granger, popped into Gringotts in Diagon Alley to discuss investment strategy and how successful the previous month's trades had been. It had been a surprise when the goblin found out that the two were regular golfing partners who chased the small white ball around eighteen or thirty-six holes on a weekly basis.

Sometimes other magicals, like Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Augusta Longbottom, would join them on the links, and Minerva McGonagall could be counted on to make a four if they were short especially, if they had a tee off at Old Course in Fife.

Professor Snape's access to additional funds within the school enabled him to improve facilities and the teaching level of his subject area. Minerva had agreed that they needed to be proactive and increase the teaching personnel within the school, rather than be always fighting fires, so the Deputy had launched a plan with a couple of Board Members, to increase the population of staff and, therefore, the population of students. Why were they only taking in an average of forty students per year? At most, they had three hundred students in the school and yet, when Minerva had been a student, there had been a thousand students. The class numbers were bigger and so was the range of subjects being taught.

The immediate benefit to Professor Snape was that for the first year since the end of the war, come the next September he would have four apprentices and a junior Potions Professor for the lower grades. The Dagworth-Granger Estate helped to fund a research and development programme at Hogwarts that had funded the cost of the increased personnel in the potions department, while allowing a new potions research joint venture, Lillybells, to be started at Hogwarts, which led to a number of private investors helping to realise Professor Snape's research. One of the first outcomes was the testing of the Wolfsbane. Lillybells provided the potion to all werewolves at a subsidised cost. Lillybells also provided a number of safe houses where individuals could come and take their potion and restfully pass the night of the full moon. With the werewolves now able to gain legitimate employment it was interesting to note that the petty crime levels had decreased. It had been very ironic that something labelled as petty crime, was actually the most burdensome cost point to the DMLE in the number of man hours spent chasing the large number of petty crime incidences. Additionally, the ability for the DMLE now to employ werewolves in the Auror Corps was a bonus, due to their enhanced senses. Tracking down thieves became an absolute doddle with their tracking skills.

By the time it came to the start of the summer when the Scions Potter, Longbottom, Malfoy and many others were to receive their school letters, there had been a distinct change in the air of the UK magical society. Over the last nine years, Albus Dumbledore's power had diminished significantly and it would not be long before he was completely pushed into the backwaters. The School Board were not happy with his leadership and the five people really running the school – the four Heads of House and the Mediwitch – had definitely proven that he really was not a capable leader. Currently, he was on his last warning and the Board still had to meet for the summer to confirm his contractual status for the new academic year.


	7. The starting of a new generation

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 7: The starting of a new generation**

The Blacks' London town house was currently full to the brim with parents and children. A week of preschool activities was going to be happening, since the female adults of the species had decided that the group approach was the most appropriate strategy. The major organiser of this expedition force was Narcissa Black Malfoy. All the current members of the House of Black's inner circle were in attendance for their Head of Family, Lord Sirius Black. Andromeda and Ted Tonks, along with their seventh year daughter, Nymphadora Tonks, were also present and accounted for. Lord Malfoy and the other godfather of the Boy-Who-Lived, Severus Snape, had also been roped into this week of activity. Harry's group of friends were all there. Draco, of course, as a member of the extended Black family had had many a play date with him as a child. Neville, his godmother's son, had also joined in the group play dates. Teddy Nott had joined the Malfoys a couple of years ago when his mother found she could no longer cope as a single parent while her husband was in jail. Through the connections of the dark Potions Master, other children like the young muggleborn witch, Hermione Granger, and the Patil twins, were all familiar with the London town house. Susan Bones had been dropped off with Narcissa as, according to Amelia Bones who was the Director of Magical Law Enforcement, unfortunately someone had to work this week in the Ministry. Augusta Longbottom had laughed when she heard that comment and said to Amelia not to worry, as they would visit and have lunch with her later in the week. Emma and Dan Granger had booked the whole week off their dental practice and again enjoyed staying in a magical house.

Sadguna Patil had become a firm friend of the two dentists and she was also enjoying staying at the luxurious town house. She had left Sadajit in charge of the refurbishment of their curry house for the week and she was glad to be well out of it and in the lap of luxury, rather than the dust and grime of remodelling. Sadguna had gladly volunteered to help with this expedition when Narcissa suggested it.

With the arrival of the children, there was a meeting called to order in the ladies' parlour over a teapot, where the action plan that had been hashed out earlier in the summer was reviewed. The floo flashed and the first appointment of the day was scheduled in the Black Manor boardroom with Griphook from Gringotts. Now that they had all achieved the age of eleven, all the younger children were being issued with their first ATM card. The children were briefed on the limits and reminded yet again of the dos and don'ts of their plastic cards. Each child was presented with a Gringotts banking folder to hold their statements and the daily market advisories for their investments.

After the appointment with Griphook, the first order of business was the appointment with the trunk makers. The master carpenter and his apprentices flooed into the town house and had set up their samples and swatches in the ballroom. The next hour was very productive, as eight children ordered their customised multi-compartmental trunks.

Everyone agreed that for Hermione and Padma it was essential that they have extra space for their library compartments. Dan Granger had been keen to ensure that they had the extra-strong, feather-light charms on Hermione's trunk because otherwise it would be impossible to move. Harry and Draco each had a sports locker compartment added to their trunks, because as soon as possible they would be bringing their Quidditch gear to school. Neville had ordered an extra bag, which was a special plant hunter's collection case. Severus encouraged all of the children to have a potions storage compartment in their trunks, as it would help with their academic performance. All the children had ordered feather-light, multi-compartmental backpacks to tote from class to class.

The master craftsman had taken their orders and confirmed that the trunks would be ready for collection by the close of business that afternoon. There had been some consultation between the fathers in the group to confirm the security options for their children's trunks. Amelia, before she had left for the day, had made her thoughts known to Remus so that he could act on her behalf when the master craftsman was at the town house. Based on who they were or who they were friends with, it paid to be aware of security matters. While there had been much change, there were still some rogue elements out there who would want to take any opportunity to attack the Boy-Who-Lived. Susan Bones was almost in the same boat, given her aunt's role in the Ministry of Magic.

Kreacher called them all to lunch in the dining room and Andromeda played the Lady of the House. After lunch, the expedition guests divided into two groups. The men were going to have a round of golf, while the ladies were disappearing off to a spa afternoon.

When Nymphadora Tonks heard the plan for the gender divided afternoon, she immediately realised what was going on. It was the official Talk. The men in the group were making sure young Neville, Draco, Harry and Theo all got the appropriate chat and the ladies were obviously going to have a pros-and-cons chat, comparing the different world views on sex and sexuality. Nymphadora, living up to the first part of her name, was quite interested in what Mrs Patil would bring to the conversation, as she had heard of the Kama Sutra.

Augusta Longbottom was relieved that they had planned this discussion as although she had talked to young Neville about puberty and the changes he was likely to experience, she thought he had been so embarrassed that he had burnt most of the information out of his brain, based on how flushed his cheeks had been. He had not asked any questions of her, so when Remus Lupin approached her about the matter for the afternoon, she had been relieved. While she would like some great-grandchildren, she certainly did not want them any time in the next seven years. She also wanted to make sure that he did not get a sexually transmitted disease. The fact that Dr Granger and Professor Snape would be involved had also added to her relief, as they both had medical qualifications, so she was certain they would ensure the important details were covered.

The ladies portkeyed out to Chlidi, a magical day spa that Lord Malfoy had booked out for the afternoon on his wife's behalf. Once the girls were all trapped in mud and foil body wraps, Emma stepped up to the plate to review the girls' knowledge about puberty, sex and sexuality. The matrons of the group had a clear, concise discussion over the various types of contraception, along with hygienic practices. Augusta found she had learnt something from the discussion when Sadguna had reviewed the charmed menstrual cup. This product was something she had developed from her exposure to Emma over the years. During a camping trip, she had asked Emma how she handled this aspect of personal care and the former Girl Guide had arranged for the witch to have her own cup.

The attendant witches at the spa were interested in the menstrual cup and Narcissa, being the entrepreneur she was, suggested that they contact Lillybells for further details. The marketing of Sadguna's new product would be perfect with word-of-mouth recommendations from this type of organisation.

Once the girls had been unwrapped and the embarrassment levels had greatly decreased, the group of ladies met with Chlidi's owner, Madam Ris. Madam Ris was a master parfumeur, who was an artisan blender for a select clientele. Today the girls had their first scent blended for them. Other products were also created to address each young witch's individual needs, such as Hermione's frizzy hair, Parvati's recurrent split ends and Nymphadora's dryness. Each area of the young witches' personal grooming was addressed.

The older witches also participated as individual grooming needs change over a person's lifespan. Emma, Andromeda and Augusta were all experiencing the change in hormones that reflected their entry into perimenopause. With the frank discussion on the cycles of womanhood there was no shyness in the ladies. Madam Ris had brought her own advice about the best way to handle this stage and it looked like Sadguna had her next research project topic. According to Parvati, her mother had that glint in her eyes that meant they were sure to be immersed in the topic of v-gardens for the foreseeable future.

"Thank goodness we're going to Scotland for nine months of the year. Would you want to be surrounded by articles and diagrams of your bits for Merlin knows how long?" Padma agreed, making all the younger witches glad that the talk component of the day was over.

Madam Ris had brought in Advisor Ntyno who did everyone's colours and body shapes. The girls now had their colour swatch wheels and body shape information added to the pink goodie bags. Advisor Ntyno had measured the girls and proceeded to write them up with a style card each. Over afternoon tea, Advisor Ntyno had provided a range of ideas on how to construct a wardrobe for a teen witch and how to ensure that the girls had a wardrobe fit for all purposes, with tips like colour coordination, building on good foundation garments and classic tailored pieces. When the ladies returned to the Black town house they had a plan for the next day, when they would go shopping for clothes.

oOoOo

Once the female residents of the town house had left for the spa, the boys had been called into Sirius' den where they had a pre tee off chat. There were a few pink cheeks amongst the adults, not just the young charges. Severus now had some blackmail material for a later time and he would be using it. The relationship between the former enemies had turned into friendly respect as they had learned more about each other. It seemed that the children had brought them together into a coalescent group. Once the technical details had been covered, the group headed off to the golf course, where during the walk up the fairways, the lads all got a chance to ask their individual questions.

On the way to the seventeenth green, young Neville was walking with Dr Granger. "Thank you again for the talk," Neville said. "Can you reassure Gran that I understand everything? This has been my fifth puberty talk, as everyone seems to think she wouldn't be able to do the talk with me. I did learn some things from the muggle view points and practices, for which I am grateful, but I just wish everyone would stop pulling me off to do this chat all the time."

"Certainly, Neville. I'll do that for you. Just remember, if you need someone who is male to talk to, you can always call on me. Not biased and just a dad, I can be a quasi godfather for you since Sirius has a problem with acting maturely. Remus is also a good call if you need an unbiased magical opinion."

oOoOo

Albus Dumbledore had been waiting all summer for this week. Harry Potter would be coming through Diagon Alley and, hopefully, he could arrange a meet up before his arrival at the school, so that he could make a good impression. Over the last couple of years, Sirius Black had ensured that the young lord was well protected and he was not often seen out and about in public.

The Order of the Phoenix members who still were actively listening to Albus Dumbledore had spent all of August keeping a look out for the Boy-Who-Lived. As they were down to the last week before the train's departure on the first of September, Dumbledore was on tenterhooks. It had been reported that Madam Bones had dropped young Susan off this morning at the Black town house to go school shopping with Narcissa Malfoy, so Dumbledore had made sure he was seen mingling in the school shopping crowds. It had been noisy, stressful and a complete waste of his time, as the boy wonder was nowhere to be seen.

Come Tuesday morning, it was noticed that Albus Dumbledore was present in Diagon Alley for the second day in a row. Rita Skeeter was now asking the Headmaster why he was spending so much time in London, when she thought he was now only primarily involved in the school which was located in Scotland.

Over the last nine years he had been pushed to the side in the Wizengamot and he was no longer the UK representative to the ICW. The Minister, Amos Diggory, was enjoying his third and final representative term, after spearheading many reforms at the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore was no longer a key advisor, so why was the wizard hanging around London like a bad smell? Madam Bones from the DMLE put her former Auror partner on the case to help get evidence of what Dumbledore was up to.

oOoOo

During the last full week of August, the school shopping expedition for uniforms and clothes took place on the Tuesday. Bright and very early, much to the horror of many who did not believe in time before 7am, Narcissa Black Malfoy had everyone attached to one of two portkeys in the front entryway of the London town house. They had all survived their briefing, double checked that they had their wardrobe shopping list and had assured Narcissa that they knew what to do in an emergency. The trunks had been collected yesterday by Dobby and had been shrunken and added to the purses or pockets of the individual students they belonged to. Back up lists were with Narcissa, Sadguna, Emma, Dan, Remus and Lucius. Today they were going first to Île Saint-Louis in Paris, where everyone was going to be magically kitted out from the shops and boutiques found on the Rue Saint Louis en l'ile. In the afternoon, it would be the London muggle high street where H&M, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Schuh would all see the young shoppers.

Madam Malkin's sister, Erin Berthillion, had an école clothing boutique on the Rue Saint Louis en l'ile, so the children were hustled into her premises where they were quickly and efficiently measured up. The specific orders for the required uniform robes were quickly listed by the witch and while she did the alterations, the group was sent to shop in the district. Dobby stayed behind at Madam Berthillion's boutique and Narcissa promptly led them into Patrick Allain, where the ladies of the party assisted the gentlemen in acquiring wizarding robes. This gentleman's tailor provided the type of suave sophistication you would find on the Saville Row and more, for he was a Parisian artiste.

After leaving the gentlemen with instructions, the ladies moved into Chezinot where casual wizarding wear was selected for the young witches and, most certainly, a few items were slipped in for their mothers and chaperones. The nearby lingerie boutique also saw some of the shoppers. Sirius insisted that it was obligatory training for young gentlemen to know their way around a lingerie boutique. Neville had flushed a lovely shade and Dan had managed to sneak him out for an ice cream early, as he kept thinking Emma would have him for teaching player behaviour.

The ladies had lost Sadguna to Severus not long after Dobby had recalled them all to Madam Berthillion's. They were going shopping for potions ingredients and speciality equipment in the apothecary. It did not take long for the advanced school kits to be made up for the eight students. Severus was easily able to order for Nymphadora, since she was one of his seventh year students. Once the group had finished at Madam Berthillion's, Lord Malfoy escorted everyone up to the apothecary where they collected their individual packages, before being taken to a custom wandmaker who had the shop next door.

A total of twelve custom wands were ordered for collection on Friday by members of the shopping party. Additional equipment such as leg and arm holsters were also custom ordered and Narcissa had a look at the various alternative options for witches. By the time Lucius Malfoy had got the group out onto the Rue Saint Louis en l'ile again, he was grateful for his reservation at the Restaurant Le Tastevin for lunch. The group had taken up most of the table bookings and there was much excitement discussing what they had achieved so far on their shopping trip. He had managed to lose Severus and the young Miss Granger to the pull of the bookshop called Librairie Ulysse. Dan had helped him out by demonstrating the Granger male technique for digging bibliophiles out of bookshops. "You can have ten books if you are out of here in the next ten minutes. For every extra minute we have to wait, you lose two items from your book allowance."

Lucius was amazed it worked so well with the young miss but he could not see how he could use it on his old friend, Severus. As a grown man and deadly wizard, Severus would no doubt hex him if he tried something like that. The raised, arched eyebrow regarding him confirmed Lucius' suspicions. Oh yes, he would definitely get hexed if he tried that technique.

During lunch, Sirius received a note via house elf from Madam Bones, instructing him to ensure the Black shopping expedition avoided Diagon Alley, as Dumbledore had been spotted lurking for a second day. The designated texts for the students had already been picked up for the first years during the first week of August. Nymphadora also already had most of her textbooks; she only needed to pick up one or two more tomes and that could easily be done later in the week.

The portkeys back to London went to Grimmauld Place, so it was easy to head off into London with the assistance of a couple of black cabs. School and casual shoes were purchased at Schuh. While it seemed to be the in thing for everyone to have a pair of Converses, Severus had recommended sturdy muggle brands, like Dr Martens, until everyone's feet matured, as dragonhide boots, while de rigueur for Potions Masters, were just too expensive to waste on growing feet. With the boys, when they hit their growth spurt, he could not condone the expense of four or more pairs of boots in a school year.

The expedition party as a whole were rather relieved to return to the Black town house as they had a large number of parcels, even though they had used their trunks and house elf assistance to help shuttle the bounty to their rooms. Madam Bones joined the adults of the group for a pre BBQ dinner beer on the back patio, where the problem of Albus pain-in-the-neck, too-many-names, old-sodding-coot, Dumbledore was discussed. With the Slytherin assistance to the remaining members of the Marauders, Dan totally understood why there had been outright warfare in the Hogwarts hallways when they were at school. After Remus had his steak, which was one of the first off the grill, he disappeared for about half an hour with Ted Tonks, who also liked a blue steak. The two gentlemen had slipped off to the Leaky Cauldron to have a jar with Tom, the barman, and off-duty Auror, Kingsley Shacklebolt.


	8. Changing of the Guard

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 8: Changing of the Guard**

The next morning was not a pleasant one for Headmaster Dumbledore, when he read his copy of the Daily Prophet newspaper at the breakfast table in the Great Hall. He had come in early to catch up with Potions Master and the more time he had to pursue the paper, the more time he had to brood. In the end, after asking each one of the man's apprentices, research assistants and his two junior teachers where Professor Snape was and not getting a suitable answer, he seemed to lose his twinkle from his eyes. The arrival of a late post owl caused the man in question to totally lose his calm, peaceful, wouldn't-harm-a-fly demeanour. After reading the letter, Professor Dumbledore stood up, throwing the paper back down onto the table in a fit of temper before heading down to the ruddy bat's dungeon.

Minerva filched the paper and quickly found the page the Headmaster had been spluttering over. Oh, she did not like the woman but it looked like Rita Skeeter had the Headmaster in her line of sight. Those red lacquered talons of hers were going to draw blood. Her three other regular partners-in-crime from the unofficial Management Quintumvirate who were currently present all proceeded to discuss the particular article and why Dumbledore was in such a snit.

Together the quasi Executive Council put two and two together and marshalled their external supporters. _Wouldn't it look bad for the school to have a gaga Headmaster?_ A quick appeal letter was drafted up between the four and with the application of complex charms, the duplication of the final letter was completed. A lightening fast visit to the Deputy Head's office led to alumni and parents' address lists being created. Between the four of them, the school owls and elf population was put work sending out batches of letters. They used a tree system with the elves, where key representatives for each particular Hogwarts House were identified and they asked each individual representative to forward on ten letters.

Poppy let Augusta Longbottom know what they were up to and the Marauders accepted the help gratefully, as it helped their plan.

oOoOo

_Is it time for Dumbledore to retire?_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_The current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has clearly been showing signs for many years that he is past his prime. He had previously been the Chief Warlock for the Wizengamot and the international representative to the International Confederation of Wizards but since the end of the Blood War, he has slowly but surely been sidelined._

_Professor Albus Dumbledore had a good run in the leadership of the UK wizarding community for over 50 years but now he is just a tired, sad, old man, who seems to have lost his marbles. He cannot even seem to realise where he is supposed to be, as can be seen from the last two days, when he appeared to be conducting surveillance in Diagon Alley. It should be noted that Headmaster Dumbledore has not officially been a dark wizard hunter since the 1940s and yet now it appears that the man is running some sort of stake-out in the London shopping district._

_Apparently, numerous reports of suspicious behaviour have been made to the Auror force over the last couple of weeks and thus there have been increased patrols, particularly given the high number of children undertaking school shopping. The Auror Captain, Kingsley Shacklebolt, has tasked a senior team to investigate the upswing in citizens' calls and it appears that they are all to do with Headmaster Dumbledore. What is the Ministry of Magic going to do about the concerns of citizens? Should a member or group of members of the general public be allowed to create fear and concerns without any censure, when they appear to be based upon the delusions of a has-been?_

_Several sources from around the central business district have reported that Professor Dumbledore had been talking about "getting his man," "no one can hide forever" and "turning to the Light." The most worrying one was probably reports of the phrase "for the greater good," being muttered by the wizard in question. When asking individuals to explain what they think this deluded man means, it appears to my confidential sources that Dumbledore believes that a wizard has to be brought back into the Light for the greater good. Different sources have hinted that Headmaster Dumbledore has been targeting Lord Black or his godson and heir, the young Harry James Potter-Black, the Boy-Who-Lived._

_If Dumbledore's target is in fact the current Lord Black, the reasoning as to why this former Transfiguration teacher would be targeting the man could indeed be a sign that he has lost his grip on the time-frame, possibly thinking that he is back in the last days of the Blood War, when it was thought that Lord Black had betrayed his best friends, the Scion Potter-Black's parents, James and Lily Potter. Could this formerly great man really have some form of dementia? Has he so lost his grip on reality that he has forgotten the last 10 years? It is a well-known fact that when older people become less mentally active, they can start losing their mental grip on reality._

_If it is not the current Lord but the Scion Potter-Black that Dumbledore appears to be obsessed with, we as a society seriously need to question if we want this type of person around our children? The individual must be psychologically unbalanced to target a child._

_The young man in question is expected to start Hogwarts this year and it had been noted that Harry Potter-Black has not as yet visited Diagon Alley to do his Hogwarts school shopping. He is not the only first year who has not been sighted, as none of Scions Bones, Longbottom or Malfoy have been sighted either. Lord Black and Scion Potter-Black were seen shopping in Paris earlier this week, so does that mean the Boy-Who-Lived will not be attending Hogwarts? Sources at Beauxbatons have reported that Lord Black and his heir toured the school at Easter._

_Given the back history when Headmaster Dumbledore challenged Lord Black's fitness and right to guardianship, there could be some bad blood between the pair. In addition to this tension, there is of course Dumbledore's failure as the then Chief Warlock to ensure that Lord Black received a trial, resulting in the illegal incarceration of Lord Black. Now, with this sudden need to gain access and control of the Potter-Black heir, who has no family links at all with Mr Dumbledore, there may have been a more sinister reason for the lack of trial and we need to consider that perhaps the pressures of the war had pushed this tired, old man past his coping points and into a permanent, delusional state. As part of this delusional state, the old man believes that the boy who defeated Lord Voldemort by his mother's sacrifice has turned against the Light and joined forces with the criminal organisation that killed his own parents. How delusional can this man really be and why have we not seen it before now?_

_Why would a semi-retired schoolmaster think he should be acting in the manner of a commanding officer of an elite organisation, running a mission where they are attempting to capture a dangerous criminal? We have an efficient government leadership and well-equipped specialist department, called the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, which has the legal authority to address any public safety issues. From the sounds of it, Dumbledore has finally gone absolutely gaga if he thinks that Harry Potter's godfather has moulded the 11 year old Scion of the Houses Potter and Black into a dark wizard._

_For years, the students have reported that Headmaster was a little eccentric. Have we passed his eccentricity off, rather than being rightly concerned about the man's mental fitness? Since the end of the war, there has been a clear division between the Headmaster and the Heads of House. There has been an Executive Council of five senior staff members who have run the school behind the back, or without the help, of the current Headmaster. It should be noted that while the Headmaster has had his contract renewed for this year, he is still on remand with the Board of School Governors._

_Have they not had enough evidence? Is it only because his behaviour has until now been comparatively mild that the school's Mediwitch has not yet stepped in and demanded a full, St Mungo's mental health assessment for the old man? Have we just become so blasé regarding his constant deviant behaviour, that we do not see that it is wrong? We have limited turns now for the key positions in the Ministry of Magic; even the Minister cannot serve for more than twelve years, or three terms of four years. Should we have some limitations on the length of office for a Headmaster? Should we have a compulsory retirement age, as do the muggles? Dumbledore has been in the role for over forty years. Is it time for new blood that is in touch with today's reality? It is time for the old man to rest in his twilight years?_

oOoOo

Not long after the letter from the schemers at Hogwarts advising their plan, the Marauders received the go-ahead from Kingsley Shacklebolt. Mundungus Fletcher had been picked up for loitering and, lo and behold, the well-known, light-fingered man had stolen property in his over large, greatcoat pockets. How thick can you be to wear a heavy winter coat while loitering around the central business district in summer, when the children are walking down the street in light robes?

It had been a mother who had reported the man she thought was a flasher or some sort of deviant. So it was passed to Dumbledore that his man was lost and the members of House Black were seen entering the shopping district and heading towards Ollivanders not long after his removal by the Aurors.

Dumbledore's network reported the arrival of the House Black to the Headmaster. It was disappointing that Dung had done something to get picked up by the Aurors but Albus was not surprised, given the man's petty criminality. No, he had to get to Diagon Alley and he was going to bump into the House of Black outside Ollivander's wand shop.

oOoOo

Auror Captain Kingsley Shacklebolt was going to pay the prankster back for creating so much paperwork. Admittedly, he did help in the whole scenario, as it had been very satisfying to slap the cuffs on the old codger. Dumbledore's appearance in Diagon Alley that Wednesday had led to a code red critical incident call out to the Aurors, solely due to the sheer numbers of urgent complaints that had been sent to the DMLE. The magical all-units available, blues-and-twos response had seen the Aurors respond in full force to a supposed major incident, only to find that it was just one old man. The downside to the whole incident was the amount of paperwork but everyone has to pay the piper. Wasting Ministry resources would definitely be another charge that Shack would lob at the old codger, thanks to the amount of dreaded, official paperwork he had created. Not only did the Aurors have paperwork from their response to the incident but it also seemed that Rita's article had triggered another avalanche of citizens' complaints. The charge sheet for the old man was going to be a doozy if he made it through the mental health assessment.

The letter shot by the Quintumvirate had resulted in an increased amount of paperwork for various Ministry of Magic Departments. The Education Department found that there was a considerable amount of correspondence coming in for the Hogwarts Board. The clerical officer who was responsible for the Board mail had collapsed with exhaustion by lunchtime, due to the sheer number of letters the little witch had to process since the Daily Prophet article. Amos Diggory waded into the mêlée of paperwork when his office was swamped with owls carrying complaints and, in some cases, howlers, expressing the public's displeasure about the recent actions of one Albus Dumbledore.

And so the Changing of the old Guard had almost been completed.


	9. Setting off to school

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 9: Setting off to school**

After the kerfuffle outside Ollivanders, the House of Black shopping expedition continued on without Sirius, as he joined the Aurors to make the official complaints. Professor Snape had seen what was going on and flooed back to the castle to let the rest of the Quintumvirate know that the old man had been snaffled by the DMLE. The children and remaining adults left to investigate the stores in Diagon Alley. Yes, Hermione spent an inordinate time in Flourish and Blotts, but she was not the only one who had the book bug: the four boys were just as bad in the special interest area.

Of course, an hour was spent in Quidditch Supplies, then, over ice cream at Florian Fortescue's, Madam Longbottom confirmed with the charges that they all had everything on their school lists. Upon receiving a chorus of yeses, it was now time for Remus to lead the party into Eyelops Owl Emporium and The Magical Menagerie pet store. Over the sundaes and floats, the knowledgable man explained the call of a familiar and how it was an important magical bond.

Harry being Harry, he just had to be different, with two familiar bonds: one with a snowy owl and the other with a poisonous snake. It was through his bonding with the Grecian Asp in The Magical Menagerie that they all found out he was a Parselmouth. Sadguna was thrilled to bits and she instantly discussed how Harry could practice healing magic with his asp. While the European contingent was a little frightened by this development, those who came from the subcontinent were blasé about the situation. They explained that it was not abnormal magic, rather unfamiliar magic, since the British Isles did not have a large snake population.

Hermione bonded with an orange, flat-nosed, half-kneazle, which Dan Granger thought was absolutely the ugliest cat he had ever seen. Narcissa and Augusta were both quick to explain that a kneazle would protect his princess, which made the moggy far more endearing to the dentist. Narcissa assured Emma that there were a whole host of charms she could teach Hermione so there would not be cat hair everywhere in the house, further increasing the Grangers' acceptance of the unprepossessing fuzzball. Teddy, surprisingly, was another who made a cat bond, except that this time it was with a sleek Manx. The lithe kitten had escaped the cage it was in, abandoning his litter-mates and mother to appear on the unobtrusive boy's shoulder.

Neville already had a toad and when Draco was a little disparaging about the animal, Sadguna supported the boy when he refuted the derision, explaining that Trevor the toad was an exceptional familiar to have if you want to be a Herbologist. Draco, while he had been tempered by his exposure to other children over the years, was still a little snooty at times and Narcissa made sure to give her son that look that he knew meant there would be a further discussion about his behaviour later on, when they were alone. It was interesting to note that no owl or other animal bonded with Draco during this last task.

Upon returning to Grimmauld Place, lunch was served to a full complement of members. After lunch, once Draco had finished doing the dishes by hand under the supervision of Kreacher, the children were each given a table to lay out their purchases and start double-checking them against their school lists, to be sure they were complete. Dan, Sadguna and Andromeda supervised this activity, while the rest of the adults conferred in the study of the town house. The floo was extremely busy, as other guests came to visit the adults, but the children learned the art of keeping track from Dan, who had 10 years in the Navy. The two witches applied a number of charms and ensured that all personal items were marked.

oOoOo

While change can be instant, even with magic the change in administration of Hogwarts was not going to be a seamless transition, so it was decided that Madam Longbottom would be appointed the Headmistress for one academic year, while the Quintumvirate would move from being the quasi Executive Management to the official Internal Executive for Hogwarts. During the next twelve months there would be much reform in the structures and legislation around magical education.

When Sirius laughed about the chaos it had caused the school, he soon found himself being drafted in as a Transfiguration teacher, with Remus covering History of Magic since Binns had finally been removed with a well-performed exorcism. Of course, Minerva McGonagall had been practicing for years to get rid of the troublesome ghost. Although Peeves was still on the loose, hopefully the awareness that she had already exorcised one ghost would convince the poltergeist to behave.

The children would still be travelling up to Hogwarts on the Express on the first of September but the first week of teaching was thrown out the window. No, the children would be undergoing some bonding activities run by a number of alumni, with the assistance of Aurors and many retired witches and wizards. Businesses provided personnel and equipment to ensure that the current students of Hogwarts were occupied and developing better bonds of friendship between all the students and Houses.

oOoOo

The last Friday of freedom was spent in Paris where the children were taken to the Louvre and to the Eiffel Tower before collecting their custom wands. After this late afternoon appointment, they decided to decamp to a wizarding bistro on the Champs Élysées, to watch the passers-by strolling along the boulevard. Returning to England after a deliciously decadent dinner, the House of Black shopping expedition crashed into their beds, ready for a last, lazy, long weekend of freedom before catching the train the following Tuesday.

No matter how much school goers want the summer to last, in the end the dreaded first day of school always arrives, and so it did for the nine children in the Black London town house. Since there had been a supervised packing of the school trunks, there was no need for any last minute shoving of belongings into a poorly packed container. The children were all in their basic uniform and would only have to put on their robes once they were on the train. The house elves had ensured that nightclothes and yesterday's clothes had been washed and dried during breakfast, so they were easily slipped in to the trunks before leaving.

They all flooed onto the platform at a reasonable hour and since the trunks had all been shrunk, there was only a few pet carriers that needed to be lugged onto the train. Remus found them two compartments and helped settle the nine children before flooing back to Hogwarts. There had been a last minute flurry as a large red-headed family came charging through the platform's muggle portal, as they rushed to make the train on time. _That's funny,_ Remus mused. _Why are the Weasleys coming from Muggle Kings Cross?_

Emma did not like the screechy, abrasive, red-haired woman who bustled up and introduced herself, along with her daft daughter. Looking at Sadguna, Emma's eyes semaphored an appeal to the witch to save her but in the end, it was the Black sisters' haughty demeanour, along with the gruff Augusta Longbottom, that put the pushy woman in her place. Her prattle was silenced quickly and the remaining members of the House of Black shopping expedition all flooed to the Ministry of Magic, where they were required to participate in the fall-out that the changing of the old guard was causing. Dan and Emma had an appointment in the DMLE to lodge charges against Dumbledore for scaring them, as non-magical parents.

oOoOo

On the train, Tonks as she preferred to called, had moved out of the girls' compartment after introducing some of her older friends to the new first years, calling out to the firsties as she left that she would be back later to make sure they were all okay. Seeing some stray firsties looking for a place to be, the older girls directed them to the two carriages and soon a new group of friendships started to be developed.

Not long after the train's departure from Kings Cross, the boys' compartment was rudely invaded by the arrival of a red-headed firstie, who seemed to latch on to Harry. However, Harry politely fobbed him off and was soon saved by two matching, older, red-headed boys entering the carriage.

"Excuse us. I'm Forge, he's Gred and this little git is our youngest brother. Is little Ronnikins bothering you?" With that, the twins looped their arms through those of the younger boy and dragged him out of the compartment.

"Well, that was strange," Teddy observed and the other boys all nodded in agreement.

Tonks' patrol of the train with her friends ensured that other stray first years were put together, so they could meet up with different groups. There had been a smattering of names attached to each other, and muggleborns were scooped up to be included with more knowledgeable, magical children. The Hufflepuff seventh years were determined that no firstie would be left on their lonesome during the long train ride.

oOoOo

When the Express arrived at Hogwarts Station, the House of Black allied first years were pleased to see some familiar faces on the platform, despite only recently seeing them back on Platform 9¾ at Kings Cross when they sent the children off to school. Madam Longbottom was there, along with Lords Malfoy and Black. Professors Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout were also there, with the Keeper of Grounds and Keys, the half giant, Rubeus Hagrid.

The firsties were sent to form two lines for Hagrid, who led them off to the boats, while the rest of the student population headed to the carriages and to make their way up to the Castle and the Great Hall.

Coming to Hogwarts via the Black Lake certainly was an impressive sight for the first year students and the boat ride helped to calm them. After following Hagrid's command to duck as they entered the boathouse, many laughed as they realised that only the half giant would have a problem with the overhang. When they reached the front door of Hogwarts, they were met by Professor McGonagall, the current Deputy Headmistress. There she gave them a briefing about how the Houses they were sorted into what would become their families here at the school, before she led them into the Great Hall. Hermione was not the only first year to look up at the starlit ceiling in wonder.

The sorting was interesting in that Harry Potter-Black, along with the muggleborn witch Hermione Granger, both joined Draco Malfoy on the Slytherin benches. Neville Longbottom joined Susan Bones in Hufflepuff and Teddy Nott joined Padma Patil in Ravenclaw, while her twin, Parvarti, was their sole Gryffindor. She was not alone in her new House, however, as the young girl had already made some acquaintances on the train who were also sorted into Gryffindor, and the red-headed twins took pity on the first year girl who was separated from her own twin for the first time, and took her under their wing. Twin solidarity was an important concept in their slightly helter-skelter, moral code.

Their little brother had been grabbed and promptly sat down between the twins and their older brother, Percy the Prefect. They were going to shake this Weasley into being a proper lion if it killed them!

oOoOo

The notices for the evening were short and sweet. "Everyone to your dorms, please. You are all to stay there until breakfast, when your Head of House will bring the whole House down to breakfast. The dress code for tomorrow will clothing for physical activities: trainers and no robes," announced Madam Longbotton at the end of the Welcome Feast.

oOoOo

To say that first night had been chaotic would be somewhat of an understatement but compared to where they had been at lunchtime, the Hogwarts staff were in a much better situation than earlier in the day. Breakfast for the first full day found them even more prepared than before, but extremely grateful nevertheless that there had been an increase in staff in each of the teaching departments, research projects and other support personnel, along with the large numbers of apprentices, who now had their own dormitory. Add to that, the alumni and the Aurors arrived at 7am, so when the Heads of House marshalled their students into the Great Hall, many had noticed the change in layout.

The Hall now had a new table configuration, where previously there had been four, long, House tables. These new, separate, smaller tables were still arranged in four long rows but only sat 14 individuals. At each table there would be a designated seat for an individual from each year. The formal table seating plan would usually be only for the evening meal but for today, the students were getting table allocations by their years. In addition to each single representative of the various year levels at every table, there were apprentice and staff members allocations as well. The left-over students were then placed and they found that on most tables, there were 2 spare seats. This was where the Aurors and alumni moved to fill the gaps.

The Headmistress' table was still in place on the dais but now it held the Quintumvirate, the Headmistress and miscellaneous staff members, like Argus Filch, Madam Pince and Rubeus Hagrid. Over breakfast, Headmistress Longbottom laid down the law about what was happening with regard to the organisation of the school.

From now on, the long, single rows of tables would only be used on feast days and for lunch. The rest of the time, the formal seating table plan for the small tables would be used for dinner. Breakfast and lunch, however, would be sit-as-you-like. Over the course of the year, there would be some other adaptions but these would be explained as they occurred.

Since the end of the last war, the Quintumvirate had done much to ensure that there was improvement in the management of the school behind the back of Albus Dumbledore and the house elf population had been willing participants in the development programmes. The inner circle had played with the budgets and ensured that there was income, thanks to the research programmes that were kept separate from the Headmaster. The individual Gringotts vaults for each House had been invested wisely and now the profit was being ploughed back into the school. They had undertaken repairs and modernisations of the House areas over the years, so that the students had appropriate facilities. When the apprentice numbers had increased to a point where they had enough to have a dedicated wing, they had taken a third floor wing and made that into the new, apprentice dormitory facility. With Dumbledore out of the castle, the Quintumvirate was now able to enact Plan Omega, namely moving the classrooms over the library wing and reallocating some of the teaching rooms to make better efficencies.


	10. Losing the Dark Mark

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 10: Losing the Dark Mark**

The goblin Healers, along with the two former Death Eaters, had spent an innumerable number of hours researching the Dark Mark. The know-it-all witch from the future had provided a wealth of research, which they verified through repeating the key experiments. The lotion had been used on Severus' mark but not on Lucius' mark, so they had a physical comparision between the two men. Once the goblin Healers were satisfied, Lucius joined in the daily application of the lotion to reduce the presence of the mark on his arm.

The rebirthing ceremony that the Hermione from the future had suggested had been put on hold until after the children's first year in Hogwarts. If the Dark Lord himself was coming back to the UK, they wanted some way of identifying that he was lurking around.

_Damn the witch; she's right again_, thought Severus. In mid-October, Lucius had flooed to Severus' rooms in the throes of hysteria. He was not even properly dressed, which showed just how panicked the normally elegant peacock was.

"Severus! It's going dark again!" came the agitated cry.

"Calm down, Lucius, and stop flapping. We knew this could happen. It looks like we'll have to do the rebirthing ceremony we discussed with the Healers earlier than planned, that's all."

"If we do it at Samhain, we can send him to the Otherword, since the veil between us and the dead is so thin on that night."

"Here, have some of my robes. Watching you dancing round in the almost bare is most distracting. Your son and wife would be horrified at your lack of decorum."

POP! A small house elf arrived holding out a parcel of clothes for the Master and a letter from Narcissa.

oOoOo

_Dear Lucius,_

_If I did not know that you had gone to visit our dear friend, Severus, I would assume that you had taken leave of your senses._

_I had to interrogate your personal house elf so I could understand what set you off this morning. If you want to practice naturism, there are organisations that provide discreet facilities. If it had been another woman who you had rushed off to in that state, you could have kissed your bollocks goodbye instead of jiggling them round in agitation._

_In future, I believe you should count to ten before running around in a flat panic._

_Hello, Severus. Please give my foolish husband a clip round the ear and let him know he has to take me shopping again or he will be exiled to the couch._

_Love,_

_Cissy_

oOoOo

After Lucius had regained some of his composure and dignity, dressing in the clothes his wife had sent through to the Potions Master's apartment, the two men discussed the rebirthing ceremony and the changing of their names. Severus liked the suggestion the young witch had made to remove his hated father's name from his own, along with claiming his mother's family name.

Lucius would have to get organised and talk to his wife to get a final sign-off for his new name. Cissy had her husband well and truly wrapped around her little finger and all she had to do was bat her eyelashes to get whatever she wanted.

All to soon, Samhain had arrived and Lucius and Severus were standing naked under long cloaks that would be removed later, as they waited for the ritualistic bonfires that had been started in the Castlerigg Stone Circle in the Lake District to burn well. This circle was chosen because it was one of the oldest in the country and was relatively remote from the muggle world.

Besides the goblins, the only others present were Draco and Cissy. It was deemed too dangerous for Harry to be there that night, considering the former presence of the Dark Lord's horcrux within him.

It was 11pm before the goblin Healers, Curse-Breakers and Spiritualists finally started the ceremony to cleanse Lucius' and Severus' souls and rebirth the two men. After removing their cloaks outside the two rings of stones, the two men walked into the drawn pentagram. There, the Chief Curse-Breaker was leading the ceremony to break the Protean Charm and remove the Dark Lord from this earthly plane once and for all.

As the chanting started, so did the pain that the pair felt. A wind whipped up around the stone circles and the pitch black of the cloudy, moonless night darkened even further. Narcissa shielded her son, wrapping her arms around him in her cloak. They had to stand strong for the men they loved, who were currently silently screaming their agony. The pain on their faces and the open mouths on the pulled-back heads gave every indication that they were in pain, however Narcissa could not hear them, thanks to the howls of the wind whipping around and around the stone circle.

The healers, spiritualists and everyone else observing the ceremonial pentagram were all being buffeted by gale force winds that threatened to blow them away out to sea. Suddenly, there were clumps of ice in the wind. To call it snow would have been wrong, as it was hard and pelting into everyone. The wind died down, as it seemed to be weighted down by the barrage of abnormally large hailstones. As the wind faded, the light took on a dark green tinge that was easy to see amongst the electrical discharges from the storm clouds that surrounded them, and the smell of lightning ozone was prevalent.

Narcissa, being the ever-protective mother she was, forced Draco to crouch down below her. She herself was kneeling over him to protect him from the elements, while trying to keep observing her love and their friend.

A thrumming could be felt in the atmosphere. Narcissa felt it in her very bones. Even her teeth hurt in the constant beat that was getting louder and louder, reverberating through all of them. The stink of ozone was getting stronger and stronger, and she was terrified that she was would be struck in the next flash of light. Suddenly, shadowy figues appeared at the five points of the pentagram and they seemed to be holding onto a circular shaped hide that had appeared. The hide was currently covering the pentagram but was beneth the two men who were curled into fetal positions in the middle of the ceremonial area. The fice Shadow Spirits lifted the edge of the hide and the storm filled the bhádcuan, the ceremomial bathing basin, that they had formed, lifting Severus and Lucius in a sea of birthing waters. Narcissa could see the steam rising from the waves that swirled around the two men, washing and warming them in the chill of the cold, stormy night.

At the cusp of midnight, there was a count down and as the goblin who was counting hit zero, there was a flash. Seconds later, the sound of a bang came crashing through the air. At the same time, the Shadow Spirits released their grasp on the bhádcuan and, as though from the waters of a witch, the men were birthed onto the pentagram. Above the sound of the wind and weather, there was a terrible scream but it did not come from the two men who had been in the bhádcuan. The water from the bhádcuan dissipated around the circle of stones in steaming rivulets that would have burned if you had placed your hand in the fast flowing waters. The goblin Ceremonial Leader relit the lamps held by many of the watchers, before sending the Healers in to check on the two men.

They were wrapped in fur-lined deerskins. Narcissa and Draco raced to their sides. Both men looked so much younger. The weight of age and dark magic had been removed from them. Looking at both their arms there was no sign of that horrible mark, old scars were missing and Severus showed even more changes, as the negative side effects from the deprivations of his childhood were repaired. He was now even taller and would be even more imposing from his great height. Absently, Narcissa made a mental note that she would need to take him shopping; hopefully she would able to influence him into a new and slightly more colourful wardrobe than the ever-present black and more black that Severus preferred.

Narcissa turned back to her husband and he shakily raised a hand to her face. "Yes, my love?" she asked.

"Cissy," was all he could croak, as the pair of them were as weak as new-born babes.

The Healers brought clothes to cover them and it was not long before they returned to Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire. After tucking both men up into their beds, Narcissa Black Malfoy called upon her sister Andy to come and comfort her. It had been a terrifiying night and she needed some words of comfort.

oOoOo

Professor Snape returned to Hogwarts the next day, where he found that the young Harry Potter had also been affected during the night. The boy had woken up at midnight with a loud scream and reported hearing the terrifying screams of Tom Riddle upon his realisation that he had lost the battle and was being consigned to the Afterlife through the Veil, as he departed this world. The Shadow Spirits pulled the wayward wizard through the Gates of Hell to ensure that he would pay for his crimes against humanity and remain properly dead. There would be no return to the middle world for him; the Shadows Spirits would make sure that he paid well for his crimes.

oOoOo

Madam Tonks found her friend Amelia Bones looking distinctly haggard a few days after Halloween. "What on earth have you been doing, Melia?" she demanded.

"Your brother-in-law's former comrades have provided me with a shed-load of work. Have you heard about Halloween?"

"No, I haven't heard about Halloween and which brother-in-law are you referring to, because I have two, you know?"

"It seems that everyone who was loyal to the Dark Lord and carried his mark was killed by an unknown cause. We have more unexplained death investigations than we want to know about. I'm surprised the Aurors weren't called to Hogwarts or Wiltshire."

"Off the record, Melia, I recommend that you go north and speak to Professor Snape; however, I think you will find that he and Cissy's husband are both unmarked." With this advice, the new Head of the DMLE had a lead she could follow to provide an explaination for what was going on.

In the end, before she could make it to Scotland, Amelia Bones was informed that both Severus Prince Snape and Lord Lucius Draconis Malfoy were currently spending a short stay in the DMLE cells, where they observed another Hogwarts alumnus, Albus Dumbledore.

"Why on earth did you bring those two in?" she shouted at the unfortunate Auror who had informed her of the current occupants of her cellblock.

Just then, her morning got even worse as her secretary, Tally, entered her office. "Madam Bones, I have Lord Black, Regent Longbottom and legal representatives Tonks & Tonks all here to talk to you about some prisoners. There also seems to be a number of owls as well. Apparently Deputy Headmistress McGonagall is not happy about the Aurors," Tally advised.

"Tally, you might as well send them all in and if Narcissa Malfoy arrives with her legal representatives, send her right in as well," Amelia instructed, taking a deep breath. Turning to the Auror who had informed her of the incarceration she gritted her teeth and snarled, "Do you have anything else to inform me about?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Go and be useful and bring both gentlemen to me here in my office. I suggest that you apologise profusely on the way."

Not long after he left, Amelia Bones was faced with an onslaught of anger regarding the removal of Professor Snape and Lord Malfoy from their primary residences.

"Amelia, what is going on?"

"Madam Bones, as Professor Snape and Lord Malfoy's legal representatives, we protest their arrest. What are they being charged with?"

"How dare you arrest a Professor in the Great Hall at breakfast, creating absolute chaos. You terrified the students. It is normally professional courtesy for the Administration, ie, the current Headmistress, to be informed what is going on. I could have called the Professor to my office to help with your investigation but, oh no, two gungho, power crazed Aurors come storming into the Great Hall and proceed to embarrass my Professor and the rest of the academic staff. They did not show any courtesy or respect for the man who has done so much to improve child welfare. They accused him of participating in Death Eater revels where children were killed and even suggested that he probably enjoyed murdering children," snapped Headmistress Longbottom. "We will be discussing this arrest and arrest procedures in the Wizengamot because, by heck, they need to reviewed!"

oOoOo

It had taken some time but Amelia Bones finally had official statements from both men about their activities at Halloween. Lucius and Severus proved that they no longer had the Dark Mark and the goblin lawyers that had accompanied Narcissa to Amelia's office discussion provided additional supporting information that confirmed the two men had been involved in a rebirthing ceremony to help remove the mark. It seemed that this ceremony not only killed off the wraith that was all that had been left of Tom Mavorlo Riddle ten years ago, but also those who were still marked with the Morsmordre tattoo.

The two men were released and the offical investigation continued into the unexplained deaths. The number of deaths in custody at Azkaban would not do much good for the new image of the Ministry of Magic that Amos Digory wanted to project and an explanation would be needed. The investigative team even interviewed Albus Dumbledore to find what he knew about the Dark Mark.

"So, Mr Dumbledore. What can you tell us abut the Morsmordre tattoo?"

"It is linked to the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort. I believe that to have the tattoo you must be a follower who wants to belong to the Death Eater movement, so it is very difficult to get a spy to take the mark as they would not have the mentality or the frame of heart required. Additionally, according to my sources, most supplicants must prove their worthiness for the mark by performing a demonstrative act. Often this would be an act proving loyalty, like the killing of muggleborns. The mark cannot be removed as it part of a Protean Charm, which links the followers to their leader. With the death of the leader it is questionable, if the followers would survive as their magic is linked and the leader leeches off his followers."

"So why, when Harry Potter defeated him as a baby, didn't the followers die?"

"Because, as I told both the Minister at the time and Barty Crouch, Lord Voldemort wasn't dead."

"In your view, if all the known marked followers of the Dark Lord suddenly dropped dead, what would you suppose has happened?"

"It sounds like the Dark Lord has been killed and his followers are dying, thanks to their link to the Dark Mark. However that could not be the case, as both Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape are known to be marked so there must be another reason for this. Please remind the Director of Magical Law Enforcement and the Minister of Magic that Voldermort is not dead."

The Aurors who carried out this interview reported the information to the Director. They continued interviewing Healers and specialists, like Filius Flitwick, to find out as much detail as possible about the Morsmordre tattoo. Meanwhile, there were more important investigations which needed completion first, namely the number of complaints against Albus Dumbledore.

oOoOo

The sorting of Harry Potter-Black into Slytherin had made some eyebrows rise at the start of the term but considering his family links to the House of Black and their long tradition of membership in the House of Snakes, it was passed off as keeping up with the family tradition. Harry's friendship with Draco Malfoy was not remarked upon and hardly anyone raised an eyebrow over the presence of a young muggleborn witch in the House of the Cunning. If it had been a different time, like ten years previously, during the height of the Blood War, wails of complaint would have been heard over a muggleborn witch or wizard joining Slytherin.

However, the changes which began in January 1982 had led to the House of Slytherin being a distinctly different House to what it had been during the 1970s. Pureblood supremacist doctrine had been thrown out of the window and the key doctrine of the House now reflected the orginial associations of the House of the Cunning and Ambitious.

During Halloween, while the House Master had been out of Hogwarts, Slytherin had been restricted to their House. There would be no opportunity for the mice to play when the cat was away if their Professor had anything to say about it. Sirius Black was acting as the temporary House Master and he had been threatened to an inch of his animagus hide by the Potions Master if the House of Slytherin was not in one piece when he returned.

Marcus Flint, a fifth year student, led a memorial vigil for all those who had lost a loved one. His uncle, Marius, had had considerable influence on the chunky beater and even though he had some violent tendencies, he also had the ability to reason and the capacity to share his personal feelings and emotions. "Tonight, we remember all the souls who have passed onto the next world," as the memorial vigil began.

Sirius was there with Harry and they lit a remembrance candle for his parents. "James and Lily Potter," they announced as they lit the candle.

Ator hissed, "My mother, the queen asp."

"I am sorry for your loss. When did you lose her? I never knew my parents really as I was very young," explained Harry. It was then that the rest of the House realised they had a firstie who was a Parselmouth. If there were any qualms about his presence in Slytherin, this skill removed all doubts.

His first year peers within the House all acknowledged that Harry had paid a high price for the current peace they now had. The group had bonded well during the bonding exercises in the first week of school. They had also developed links with the other Houses and on the first weekend in November, the Slytherin first years would be holding a mixer event where they would show their House pride by taking people through the House Memorial Room.

It had not been all beer and skittles for the youngesters, however, as there was still some residual prejudice against Slytherins from other Houses. Ronald Weasley was particularly troublesome for Harry as he kept baiting him. "You are a disgrace to your parents, who were both Gryffindors. They never would have forgiven you for being a slimy snake," the ginger haired boy declared.

Hermione was also having some problems in the joint classes with the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws. With the Ravenclaws, it was out and out jealously that she was getting more points. "She should have been in our House, not in the House of evil," grumbled a petulant Marietta Edgecombe.

With the Gryffindors, it was again Ron Weasley who was the problem. "She's such a know-it-all. HoNestly, it's not surpising she hasn't any friends."

The Gryffindor found himself repeatedly in some form of detention and even his brothers were quite happy to write home about his behaviour. The twins were surprised that he had out done their detention record and embarrassed by the reasons for his numerous detentions, while Percy the Prefect believed that his horrible, little brother was ruining his chance of Head Boy.

oOoOo

One morning at breakfast, an elderly owl feebly arrived, carrying the distinctive red envelope that indicated a Howler. As it dropped the envelope in front of Ron, the recipent gulped in horror. His brothers advised him to take it quickly or it would be worse.

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY, HOW DARE YOU GET DETENTION UNTIL CHRISTMAS? I AM MOST DISAPPOINTED WITH YOUR BEHAVIOUR. YOU HAVE HAD MORE DETENTIONS THAN ALL YOUR BROTHERS COMBINED IN THEIR FIRST YEAR OF SCHOOL. IF THIS CONTINUES, I WILL COME TO THE SCHOOL MYSELF WITH MY WOODEN SPOON AND THRASH YOU FOR YOUR BAD BEHAVIOUR. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

With that, the Howler poked its tongue out at Ron and then shredded itself in a fit of temper. The volume of this Howler had ensured that everyone in the Great Hall had heard the screeching diatribe of Molly Weasley.

Madam Longbottom and Professor McGonagall were not impressed. In fact, all the Heads of House present in the Great Hall were concerned about the effect this humiliating Howler would have on the child. Professor McGonagall had repeatedly written to Molly in the past, asking her not to send these damaging letters to her children.

"I would call that verbal assault," advised Professor Snape, who had worked hard to improve the welfare of the children in the school.

"The noise level alone was above the noise control statutes, so we could have her charged on that feature alone," Madam Longbottom observed, remembering the details from her work on the legislation.

"I believe that for years, Minerva has repeatedly requested that Molly cease and desist sending Howlers," indicated Pomona, remembering a number of discussions she had held with the other female Head about the troublesome mother of the Weasley Clan.

"Is it time to bring Arthur Weasley in for a conversation?" suggested Severus.

"Every time I have tried to get hold of the man, that damn woman has come with him," snapped Minerva, who even though it was not yet 9am found herself wanting a good Scotch to help fortify her.


	11. A little bit of History

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 11: A little bit of History**

Hermione Granger was enjoying her new learning environment and she was glad she had some friends already in the other Houses, even though there was some conflict about her placement as a muggleborn witch in the House of Snakes. Professor Snape was an interesting House Master and he had spoken to the whole House on their first night, reminding them of the values of the House and stating that Miss Granger must be cunning and ambitious to be sorted into Slytherin.

She had settled down to the work very quickly but soon found that there was a need for a study group, however, she willing worked with Susan Bones and the Patil twins to organise a group that met regularly in the library. Ronald Weasley, the redhead in Gryffindor, had been a little troublesome but she followed the Slytherin rules of always being in at least pairs when out of their Nest.

Hermione was in the stacks retrieving a book when Ronald Weasley found her. She was shocked he would even come into a library, as he really did not seem the type.

"Look at you, with your bushy hair. Do you really think you'll be Harry Potter's girlfriend?"

"It's none of your business. Just leave me alone," retorted the witch, not wanting to deal with this idiot of a boy. He was rude and abrupt with her, being a bully who picked on her.

"He's going to marry my sister and make me rich. Professor Dumbledore said so," snapped the deluded boy.

"He doesn't even know your sister and how would Professor Dumbledore even be able to control Harry like that?" Hermione pointed out logically, wondering why this boy would even believe the drivel he had just spouted. She was trapped in a T-section of the library stacks and needed to get past him to return to the open area and the group table.

She decided to brush past him and at that point, he grabbed her by her wrist. After dropping him on his back with a good Judo throw, she continued on. She had escaped the horrible boy but her wrist was hurting her.

oOoOo

When Marcus Flint came by later that evening to collect all the Slytherin students who were in the library, the young witch reported the incident to him. He had patrol with the boy's brother later on that evening, and assured Hermione that he would mention it to Percy then. Hopefully they could reign in the young bully but if it continued on much more, he would have to get the House Master involved in the matter. After that Howler the other day, it would not be good for the boy concerned.

Amongst the first year girls, the word had spread to avoid Ronald Weasley at all costs, as he was not to be trusted. The bruising on Hermione Granger's wrist was a clear sign that he was nothing but trouble.

oOoOo

It was after dinner a couple of nights later when Ronald struck again. This time he did not let the witch get in a first blow or even a chance to shield herself, as he came out of the shadows swinging at her. Unfortunately for the foolish Gryffindor, Hermione was not alone as Daphne Greengrass was walking with the muggleborn first year back to the Slytherin Nest from the Great Hall.

The young Greengrass lass followed her own mother's advice and promptly put the lad down with a swift, sharp kick to the goolies. The red-haired boy now had a matching red face crunched up in pain and was gasping for breath, as he clutched his throbbing crown jewels. It should be mentioned that Daphne still had her steel capped dragonhide boots on from their potions lesson earlier in the day.

Miss Greengrass went to the nearest painting. "Call a Professor now! We need help. A boy has tried to attack us. Hermione is injured," she exclaimed. The Slytherin House Ghost, the Bloody Baron arrived quickly and stood over Hermione, who looked to be concussed.

As the girls were close to the entrance to the Slytherin Common room, the Nest, it was not long before there was a small huddle round the girls. A prefect, Maria Blishwick, had called for the burliest of the boys present in the small crowd to sit upon the red-head after she had taken his wand from his back pocket. Professor Snape arrived and directed that the rest of the students, besides any prefects and those concerned, should return to their respective Houses. This neutrality about the Houses was necessary as students had a tendency to visit friends in other common rooms since the school Heads had started working to repair the schisms between the Houses.

"Baron, can I hear your impressions?" the Professor asked, hoping to get a quick answer to what was going on while he identified who were the players in this incident.

"The young flame here had been hanging about. I had previously had words with him and he stated he had detention with the caretaker in this hallway. I had just gone off to confirm this when I passed the girls returning from dinner on their way to our common room. The next thing, I hear the paintings call in an alarm of an attack and came to find that the boy had struck the young lass. It appears the other lass put down the buck and then used the paintings to call for help. The girls were walking in pairs for their own safety according to the House rules. If that is all I will be off, as I have to see the Grey Lady."

"Miss Blishwick, can you help Miss Granger and Miss Greengrass to my office, please? I believe I will need to call the Deputy Headmistress, and possibly the Acting Headmistress as well, over this matter."

Professor Snape bound up Ronald Weasley and levitated him to his classroom, placing him on the cold, stone floor. It was not a gentle placement, as he was dropped from a height of about three feet onto the floor, however, the cold stone would help with the boy's swelling in the groin, until they worked out exactly who was at fault in this little skirmish. There was something about the lad that just got on his last nerve. It was not because he was a red-head, as his childhood best friend had been a ginger. He enjoyed the twins and had a lot of time for the two eldest brothers – except when they were playing Quidditch for Gryffindor! Percy, he could take or leave, but Ronald just made him surly in less than fifteen seconds flat. A patronus message was sent off to both the Deputy and the Acting Headmistress.

Hearing a knock on the classroom door, he called, "Enter."

"Yes, Marcus?" inquired the Professor when he saw his prefect. Severus did not like the look of Miss Granger's colour and he believed that Poppy should come to his classroom and assess her.

"Sir, I thought you would like to know that Miss Granger reported an incident a couple of days ago in the library where she was accosted by Ronald Weasley. I had hoped that speaking to his brother, Percy, who is also a prefect, would have helped with the matter but it seems he has a problem with the young lady."

"Stay and keep an eye on him," he ordered his prefect. Damn, the boy had been bullying and the House policy of being subtle rather than meeting violence with violence, like they had done when he himself was a student, had failed to address the boy's behaviour. This was a serious incident and he was quite sure that if anything happened to their precious princess when she was theoretically in his care, Emma or Dan would forget the Novocaine if he needed work during his next regular check-up.

His office floo activated and out stepped Madam Longbottom. Looking at Hermione again, the Potions Professor believed Madam Pomfrey would be needed urgently to assess her. Based on his very quick assessment she was concussed but there was something else bothering him about her condition. Her colour just kept changing and she could not seem to keep her head up. Right after using the floo to call upon on the Mediwitch, who promptly stepped through, the Transfiguration Professor arrived in her animagus form. Professor McGonagall had run as a cat quickly down to the Potions teaching area.

Madam Pomfrey had quickly assessed the young witch and turned on all present. "Severus, she has a haemorrhage and we need to get her stabilised. Help me transfer her to the infirmary, now!" she ordered. Hermione was quickly taken for treatment leaving the prefects, Daphne Greengrass and Ronald Weasley with the Headmistress and her Deputy. After hearing Daphne's account, Madam Longbottom asked Prefect Maria Blishwick to escort her to the common room, where she was prompted not to gossip about this matter.

"Miss Blishwick, please rejoin us quickly as we will need to continue this matter in my office," advised Madam Longbottom.

"Yes, Madam Longbottom, but I will have to make sure I have an escort there, as Professor Snape has rules about travelling the halls solo. I would not like to anger my House Master, so I may take a little while," the young prefect reminded the Acting Head, hoping to put the boot even further in to boy who had hurt the young, first year witch. Hermione was popular within the House since she scored then a large number of points. She also helped in extending the House networks into the other Houses and helped those in her House who needed assistance with their homework.

"I am sure Mr Flint can help you escort Miss Greengrass back to the Slytherin Common rooms and then provide a suitable escort up to my office," advised Madam Longbottom. "The rest of you prefects will be on hall duty and I wish for all trouble makers to be sent to the office. No – and I mean NO – minor infractions will be tolerated tonight. Dismissed."

oOoOo

The blow to Hermione's head had apparently caused a haemorrhage and she had needed immediate treatment from the Mediwitch to ensure that there were no negative outcomes. The initial report on the first year witch compiled by the Mediwitch confirmed that she had bruising on her wrists that were about three days old. When Professor Snape flooed into the Headmistress' office, he was seething mad. After her treatment, Miss Granger had been able to pass on the memory of what the young man had said the other night by providing a copy of her memory to her Head of House.

In the end there was a mini meeting amongst the Heads of House and other concerned Professors, such as Sirius Black. Miss Granger had reported an interesting statement made by the boy to her Head of House. After calling in another member of the Board of Governors to the school, Madam Amelia Bones, there was considerable consultation over the next steps in the matter. Strangely, there were no miscreants who were sent to the Headmistress' office by the prefect patrols that evening.

oOoOo

After their short stint in the DMLE cells in London at the Ministry of Magic on the First of November, both Professor Snape and Lord Malfoy were very surprised to learn that Mediwizard Whorl had passed Albus Dumbledore as medically fit for trial. Their short stint in the cells had convinced the pair of them that he was several scales short of a dragon. Any chance that the trial of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore would not turn into a three-ring circus would have been wishful thinking and Amelia Bones had been wishing very, very hard. _"Treat it like a normal trial, just like any other prosecution. You have all the facts, just present your caseandstop panicking," _she kept telling herself like a mantra, as she entered Courtroom 10 with the full Wizengamot.

The charge sheet was incredibly long and it took almost all the first three hours of the morning session just to record the long list of grievances against the former Chief Warlock and Headmaster of Hogwarts. This trial was going to be the hottest show in town for the magical community for a considerable amount of time. When asked by Morris Ogden, the current Acting Chief Warlock for the Wizengamot, if he had representation, a shocked titter was heard in all the galleries when the man announced, "I believe I am experienced enough and know the law well enough, Morris, to defend myself. Half these complaints are salacious malcontents and the other half erroneous."

"I would like to remind you, Mr Dumbledore, of the hallowed entity of this court."

"Morris, I would remind you to whom you are speaking and to stop trying to teach your grandmother to suck eggs."

"Mr Dumbledore, you will address me as Your Honour or as Chief Warlock. Do I make myself clear or do you want to add a contempt charge to your already long list of charges?"

"Yes..." there was a long pause as the two men glared at each other. "Your Honour."

Looking at his wristwatch, Morris Ogden then advised, "Madam Bones, please begin. As it is already late, I recommend that you start with a brief summary and then we will break for lunch before you call your first witness."

With that, the Director of the DMLE started to present her prosecution case. She provided only a summary, so as not to give all her cards away. As she did so, Albus Dumbledore kept pulling faces and rolling his eyes the whole time. Many in the various galleries were sure that Mediwizard Whorl would definitely be reconsidering his assessment that the defendant was medically fit to stand trial.

After lunch, the first witness Madam Bones called to be sworn in was Bathilda Bagshot.

"Can you please advise the court who was your visitor during the summer of 1898?"

'My eighteen year old nephew, Gellert Grindelwald." With that response, there was a collective gasp at the name and everyone was riveted to the witness giving testimony.

"Can you describe the relationship between your great-nephew and Mr Albus Dumbledore at that time?"

"They became lovers during that summer. Their grand romance lasted for about a year, until after the death of Albus' mother, Kendra, in the spring of 1899. The boys were arguing over the care of Albus' sister, Ariana, and during the summer after Abe sat his OWLs, a terrible incident happened. Abe had only been home from school for a week when there was a terrible, three-sided argument between the two older boys and Abe over the care of Kendra and Ariana."

"If I can halt you just there for some clarification. Abe is Aberforth Dumbledore, the current publican of the Hog's Head Inn?"

"Yes, he is Albus' younger brother by three years. Ariana was the boys' sister. Wands were drawn during the argument and she got caught in the crossfire. She was only fourteen years old at the time. After her death, Abe didn't speak to his brother for many years. I believe that they are still not on talking terms unless wands are drawn, if you know what I mean. Abe blamed Albus for both Kendra's and Ariana's deaths."

"Your Honour, I would ask the court to admit the Official Aurors' Report of this event for identification as Prosecution evidence item No 1."

"Clerk of the Court, mark it as Prosecution item No 1."

"To summarise the Aurors' Report, the death of Ariana Dumbledore was found to be caused by a family squabble, whereby Miss Ariana Dumbledore rashly tried to stop the fighting between her brothers and her eldest brother's lover. Now, Madam Bagshot, can you confirm that you were interviewed by the Aurors over this incident?"

"Yes, I was interviewed by two Aurors and I provided a signed statement of the events from my perspective as an observer to the scene."

"Yet I can find no mention of your statement in the official report documentation that I retrieved from the archives."

"I can confirm that I gave a statement. I have no idea why my statement is not in the archived copy of the Aurors' report."

"As part of the preparation for this court case, I visited you in Godric's Hollow where you provided me with a copy of your research file for Albus Dumbledore. In this file, I found an official copy of your statement. So can I ask you to verify for the court that this document, which I have here, is a true copy of your witness statement?" The woman looked over the ancient parchment and then stated her confirmation before returning the document to Madam Bones.

"Your Honour, I would ask the court to admit the official, signed statement of Madam Bagshot on the incident related to the death of Ariana Dumbledore for identification as Prosecution evidence item No 2."

"Clerk of the Court, mark it as Prosecution item No 2."

"So, to summarise your statement: basically, young Ariana ran out of the house, between the two brothers, and stepped into the spell fire."

"Yes, that is correct. I couldn't say what hex it was other than to say it wasn't an Unforgivable. When Ariana was struck down, she knocked her head on the street cobbles. She never recovered consciousness, dying three days later"

"Did she have a wand?"

"No, Ariana was a little feeble minded and she didn't have a wand. She hadn't gone to school due to an incident when she was younger, as her magic wasn't stable enough for a wand."

"Do you know if Albus and Gellert ever reconciled?"

"No, I think they tried that summer but I believe Albus blamed himself for the death of Ariana so the boys couldn't reconcile. I know they communicated by letter for a number of years, continuing to research together until about 1914, but after that, Gellert never mentioned Albus in his letters to me ever again."

"When was the next time that you heard about Gellert and Albus being together?"

"The so-called duel in 1945," the older woman said, in a very cold voice.

"Can you explain to the court what you mean by that statement?"

"The duel that was never a duel. There was no competition or challenge issued that day, either magical or muggle. Albus, the Svengali that he is, shot Gellert in the back with a muggle pistol. I visit my nephew twice a year in his Nurmengard prison and each and every time, he violently denounces that any duel occurred between the two of them in 1945. I have seen the bullet wound scars and he was most certainly shot in the back. Gellert was lucky to survive the attack."

"So the duel which Albus Dumbledore is famous for as the so-called Leader of the Light never actually occurred?"

"Pfft! What complete twaddle! Albus Dumbledore is nothing but a self-aggrandising pipsqueak. The hexes he was throwing in that 1899 duel were definitely not light and fluffy. Albus, the Leader of the Light! Hah! Circe! Heaven help me! He is just self-serving wizard who doesn't care who he hurts on his way to the top. He wanted to make his own name and didn't care who he stepped on or over on the way."

"To clarify, Madam Bagshot: the hexes thrown by Albus Dumbledore in the 1899 duel were dark magic?"

"Yes, I can confirm that they were of a dark nature. That was what the two boys had in common – a love of knowledge and a fascination for dark magicks."

"Now, moving on. Madam Bagshot, can I enquire if you have any knowledge about event in Godric's Hollow reported to the Aurors in late November 1914? There is a mention in the Auror log for the twentieth of November of a call to the village, due to the unnatural behaviour of a wizard with a herd of goats."

"Oh yes, that brass monkey. It had nothing to do with Aberforth other than it was his goats which were unnaturally tampered with on that night. The wizard charged and found guilty for that perversion was one Albus Dumbledore. He ended up having to pay a considerable fine. I believe the reparations helped Abe buy the Hog's Head Inn."

'It is interesting to note when we look at the official records – which I would like to submit to Your Honour for identification as Prosecution evidence items 3, 4 and 5 – it can be seen in all three of these items that the individual is only identified as A. Dumbledore and there is no further initial to help clarify which specific individual was charged, convicted and fined."

"Clerk of the Court, mark the items as Prosecution items 3, 4 and 5 respectively."

"Thank you for your time, Madam Bagshot. Your witness, Defence."

"Bathilda dear, when did you last visit your nephew, Gellert?

"It was at Christmas, thank you, Albus."

"What do you do now for most of your days?"

"Objection, relevance."

"I am trying to confirm the ability of the witness to correctly reflect on the past."

"Continue."

"Thank you, Morris, I will. Bathilda, what are you doing now to fill most of your days?

"I am currently teaching at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. I have replaced the ghost, Binns, for History of Magic," advised the witch with a bright tone.

"What qualifications do you have to teach this subject?" drawled Dumbledore, suggesting to some in the galleries that he did not believe she was a suitable replacement.

"I am acknowledged as one of the foremost wizarding historians in the UK. I also have, as you well know, young man, a muggle teaching qualification in addition to my Mastery in Magical History. I have published twelve books alone on Historical topics. One of my best known works is 'Hogwarts: a History,' which was first published in 1947."

"So, why have you only started teaching at Hogwarts in the last couple of months if you are so well known?" Dumbledore was still trying to convince the court that she was not particularly reliable.

"Well, that would have something to do with you, wouldn't it Albus? You were the Headmaster for the last forty years and the Deputy for at least twenty-five years before that, and every time I was interviewed, you shot me down as a poor candidate."

"Thank you, no further questions. You are dismissed," advised Dumbledore, as he bustled back to his part of the lawyers' benches.

"Um, just one moment Madam Bagshot," advised Amelia.

Bathilda had remained exactly where she was, even without Amelia's instruction. She knew that the Chief Warlock had to dismiss her, not the lawyer. "You would think that Albus thinks I was born yesterday," she muttered her discontent, causing a titter to sweep round the large courtroom.

"Your Honour, the Prosecution demands the right to redirect since the Defence just brought new information to light in the court."

"You may proceed," advised Chief Warlock Ogden. He was personally getting pretty miffed about the lack of respect that Albus Dumbledore was giving the court.

"Madam Bagshot, how often in the past did you apply for the History of Magic position before you were accepted by Hogwarts?"

"I applied every year from when Cuthbert Binns passed in 1945. Before that I had applied when Cuthbert Binns applied for the position in 1932."

"Can you please advise the court why you were not granted the position when you first applied?"

"Apparently, I didn't have enough of an academic background in 1932, according to Headmaster Dippert. Oh, and the fact I was a woman who would go off and get married to have babies." There was a distinct tone of asperity in the witch's voice when she repeated to the court the claptrap she had been expected to accept without question all those years ago.

"Please excuse me, I know it is not polite to ask this, but how old were you in 1932?"

"I will forgive you, young lady. I was already well past my one hundredth birthday in 1932. Gellert Grindelwald is my great-nephew, and he is now 109. Albus Dumbledore is 110 years. Millicent Bagnold, the former Minister of Magic, was my great-granddaughter. I was not exactly in my baby birthing years in 1932. I haven't had the prospect of pregnancy or nappies for over one hundred years. I went through the change in about 1885."

"What do you believe is the real reason why Headmaster Dippert didn't employ you for the position, since Cuthbert Binns only published one book of history to your twelve?"

"I'm a witch and Dippert was a well-known misogynistic, bastard of a wizard. Albus employed more women after he became Headmaster but I believe that is only due to pressure from the Board of Governors, since he is gay."

"That is all. Thank you for your time, Madam Bagshot"

"You may step down," advised the Chief Warlock.


	12. The trial continues

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 12: The trial continues**

The next couple of witnesses called that afternoon proceeded to deconstruct the picture of Albus Dumbledore as the kindly, grandfatherly wizard, into that of a completely ambitious, power hungry, manipulative bastard. Madam Bones had even analysed Albus Dumbledore's voting pattern and legislative propositions in the Wizengamot, questioning the former Chief Warlock's behaviour, while linking his actions, in order to demonstrate the wizard's self serving ways.

Madam Bones also tied Dumbledore's behaviour to individual complaints and charges. By the time she had got through his actions of the late 1970s, there was not much that Albus Dumbledore was able to refute in his cross examination of the witnesses. Not only did Madam Bones use witnesses, she also used documentary evidence to paint a clear picture of his actions and their effects on people. Amelia went out of her way to build a timeline of events that the court members could review whenever they needed, for further clarification. The timeline included linked photos and key dates for what seemed to be minor incidents when looked at individually, but which, when taken together, helped to build the wider picture that the man himself had a grand plan.

Dumbledore's cross examination again brought into question the credibility of Mediwizard Whorl's assessment regarding the old wizard's fitness to stand trial, as he kept coming off as a delusional fool, who could not seem to acknowledge that he was digging his own grave with the Wizengamot members. Several times during his rambling cross examinations, Albus Dumbledore mentioned the phrase 'the greater good.'

Madam Bones did not do anything to alert him or indicate it was a bad phrase to use in the courtroom, so Dumbledore continued to proceed without guarding his turn of phrase. However, the whole prosecution and its legal support team were all smirking internally as the legal sharks had smelled the blood in the water and they were now circling to rip the former Chief Warlock to shreds, piece by piece. By gum, they were going to sink their teeth into the manipulative, old fool!

At the start of the second day of the Prosecution's case, Madam Bones called Barty Crouch Snr to the Wizengamot as witness for the events of 1981, when Sirius Black was erroneously imprisoned. Barty Crouch Snr was a stiff backed gentleman with a small moustache who was known for his no nonsense manner and his very strong belief in sticking to the rules. He was the type of man who would whistle through his teeth while wrapping his lips over each other when he was deliberating or concentrating. He had a moustache that made him look like a cross between Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler, not that he of the majority of the Wizengamot would recognise this, due to their pureblood heritage.

"Good morning, Mr Crouch. Can you please advise the court what position you held in the Ministry of Magic in 1981?"

"I was the then Director of Magical Law Enforcement," he curtly responded. There was no love lost between the current Director and the former Director. Madam Bones was reminding herself not to bite back. When they both had been Senior Aurors, the man had felt threatened by her, and with good reason. She had a meteoritic rise within the DMLE and was over twenty years his junior.

"How long did you hold the position?" she calmly continued with her planned questioning.

"I rose to the position of Director in 1978, after the assassination of the previous Director, Magnus Blishwick."

"When did you move to your current Ministry of Magic position?" She wondered if he would remain even-tempered when he answered her, as this whole experience was pretty humiliating for him.

"I transferred to the Directorship of International Sports and Games in March 1982, after the revelations about Sirius Black." _Well that was one way of saying he compulsorily moved due to incompetence,_ Madam Bones thought, but then told herself she needed to eat some chocolate soon before she got too bitchy.

"What were these revelations and how did they come about?" in the same calm tone she had been using all day. She knew the true story but she needed the official story to come out.

"From my understanding, there was a prisoner handed in by a privateer. Peter Pettigrew was that prisoner and since he was not dead, it flagged a number of questions for the DLME officers who received him from the privateer. At that time, Sirius Black was regarded as having supposedly killed him on the first of November 1981, along with twelve muggles. Auror Alastor Moody gained permission to administer Veritaserum to Pettigrew, as he was found to be a marked Death Eater, and question him regarding the circumstances of his supposed death. Through the use of Veritaserum, Pettigrew admitted to being responsible for the deaths of Lily and James Potter, as he was the secret keeper for the Potters. He was also responsible for the deaths of the twelve muggles as part of his escape from Black. This testimony countered what had been used to imprison Lord Sirius Black."

"So Veritaserum had not been used in Lord Sirius Black's trial where he was found guilty and sentenced by a court?"

"Yes and no," snapped the disagreeable man, not wanting to admit that he had been involved in a travesty of justice.

"Can you please clarify that statement?" Amelia questioned. _Yes, please do explain to everyone what happened, you bureaucratic pen pusher,_ the stern former Auror thought acidly, remembering his administration and some of his decisions that had personally affected her.

"No, we did not use Veritaserum when Sirius Black was arrested, and, no, he did not receive a trial. He was imprisoned under the Emergency Powers. Dumbledore had assured me the man had confessed and several people had heard him do so in the cells. We were swamped so we didn't bother with a trial at the time he was sent to Azkaban. His was not an urgent case for the courts."

"So the former distinguished Hitwizard and Auror didn't even get interviewed per DLME policy?" Amelia asked, forcing herself to maintain an impassive mien. _Yes, we will point out that there was a snafu and the system failed this prisoner._

"No, he wasn't interviewed. We didn't need to. He was ranting and raving in the cells that it was his fault. It was less than forty-eight hours since the Godric's Hollow incident. We had overcrowding in the cells. We had mass public disorder, thanks to celebrations in the street. We were extremely short staffed and it was just chaotic. Heck, the Minister had come out on the wizarding radio and announced to the public that 'it was our undeniable right to party.' The stupid bint, the amount of breaches of the Statute of Secrecy that we had to respond to after that was in the thousands. So here we had someone in the cells putting his hands up and saying it was his fault, making life easier. Of course we were going to speed through the process."

"Hmm, Sirius Black was ranting and raving in the cells. Did you have him assessed to see if he was medically fit for trial?"

"No."

"Did anyone formally take his statement?" Amelia inquired. _Someone should have. Unfortunately, Moody and I were out on other cases that night,_ she mused.

"No."

"Was he formally charged?"

"No."

"Why not?" Amelia continued with her ever so polite interrogation. _Yes, please tell us why not. Something just doesn't sit right. This man was so anal for procedure, there has to be a reason._

"As I said before, we were so overcrowded that we could have used the entire Ministry building, all twelve floors, as prisoner cells. Black was saying it was all his fault – there were plenty of witnesses to that – so before we had a riot, he was shipped out to Azkaban with some maximum security prisoners to ease the overcrowding. There almost was a riot in the cells when the other prisoners heard Black admit it was his fault that James and Lily had been killed."

"Mr Crouch, did all the marked Death Eaters have a formal trial?"

"Yes, they did."

"On the fourteenth of November did you sit on the Bench leading a tribunal for the trial of Igor Karkaroff?"

"Yes, we were running three man tribunals under the special wartime Rules of Engagement that enabled the fast track processing of marked prisoners."

"In that trial, did Karkaroff name your own son, who was seated in the observation area of the court, as a member of the Death Eater movement?"

"Yes, he did," spat the sour man, not wanting to be reminded about his son who broken his mother's heart. She died approximately three years from that horrible day. He had disowned the boy and he had never seen him again. Not even to tell him of his mother's illness and death.

"Did your son receive a trial?"

"Yes, he did. He was processed that day as it was found that he was a marked Death Eater."

"So if you had the Dark Mark you were given a trial?"

"Yes."

"Why did he get a trial?"

"We had to give justice to his victims and his victims' families. We also needed to carry out a detailed investigation to ensure we had captured all those involved in the crimes. If we could interrogate the Death Eaters, we could get them to name names. Unfortunately, we could not always get permission from the Wizengamot to administer Veritaserum to all the marked prisoners."

"So how come Sirius Black didn't get a trial?"

"When he was searched on entry to the cells, Black was not found to have a Dark Mark. We were under pressure to round up the Death Eaters and end the hostilities."

"So finding that Sirius Black didn't have a Dark Mark didn't ring any alarm bells that there needed to be a detailed investigation to clarify the situation?"

"No," retorted the increasingly irascible man. _Damn you, woman! I am not going to say it was my fault because it wasn't,_ thought the witness, absolving himself in his mind of all responsibility for this event that had occurred under his jurisdiction.

Madam Bones took a sip of water before starting on a new track in her questioning of the witness. "What was known at the time prior to Halloween 1981 about Black's relationship with James Potter and Lily Evans Potter?"

"Black and Potter had been in the same House at Hogwarts and were apparently best friends from the age of eleven. When Black's mother threw him out in the summer after his Hogwarts' fifth year, the Potters took him in."

"Could you please theorise why would the Potter family take Sirius Black in?"

"James' mother, Dorea Potter, was a Black. From memory, she was second cousin to Sirius Black. The boys were apparently as close as brothers. This closeness was noted when they both joined the Ministry as trainee Aurors. Black was James and Lily Evans Potter's best man when they married. Sirius Black and James Potter were Auror partners from the completion of their Auror training."

"Would you say that the Auror partnership of Black and Potter was known to be very close?"

"Yes, that was what made the betrayal seem even worse. Dumbledore had advised that Black had been the secret keeper for the Potters. That fact, and his admittance it was his fault, almost caused a riot."

"So, Sirius Black was incarcerated upon circumstantial evidence of hearsay and cell house theories. No one bothered to get evidence, medically assess the prisoner, or even bother to interview the prisoner or get his accusers' statements. Nobody bothered to do even a cursory investigation. You didn't even bother to check, did you?"

"Umm," Crouch wavered. He was weaving his lips over each other and he seemed to almost whistle through his teeth.

"Did you?" she demanded, wanting to hit the man with the truth and make him at least feel guilty for his part in the farce.

"No, we had enough on our plate, including the case of the Longbottoms, who were assaulted not two days after that night. We had drunks in muggle streets. We had to get the perpetrators who had attacked these Aurors. Bellatrix Lestrange had to be captured."

"Did Madam Lestrange, or as she is also known, Bellatrix Black, receive a trial?"

"Yes, she got a trial," he bitterly admitted to his failure.

She had scored that point with the Wizengamot pretty well and now it was time to make it thirty-love in this rally with the man. "Why was it decided to place the Potter child, Harry James Potter, the only one who survived the attack that night, with his muggle relatives?"

"Well, magically there was no one else. If we had started looking for magical relatives we would have ended up with cousins like Bellatrix Lestrange. Dumbledore explained that being in the muggle world would help protect him. We were sure there were going to be Death Eater reprisals so we needed to protect the child. We were still at war and didn't know what was going on."

"Did you know about the sealing of the Potter wills?" Madam Bones calmly asked, as if she was just walking through a point to be clarified. However, she was mentally holding her breath, hoping he would provide the knife to help fillet Dumbledore.

"No, the wills were not sealed. Dumbledore assured me that he was the child's guardian and he even proved this when he showed me a copy of their wills. It's all in the child's welfare file."

"To clarify, Mr Couch. Albus Dumbledore presented you with a certified copy of the Potter wills that appointed Dumbledore as the guardian and Executor of the Estate. Did it say anything about Lily's muggle relatives?"

"Yes, that is right Dumbledore presented me with a certified copy of both wills, which I personally placed in Harry Potter's child welfare file. I cannot recall anything mentioned in the wills about Lily's muggle family," he asserted strongly again. This would lead her to the next volley to ensure the point rally continued for her legal argument and continued to bury the damn twinkly eyed man who did not even have the sense to look concerned about what was being implied.

Amelia Bones lifted a file from her section of the lawyers' benches and brought it across to Barty Crouch Snr in the witness box. "Mr Crouch, can you please describe for the court the item I have just handed to you?"

"It's a child welfare file from the Ministry of Magic," he asserted like she was being dim witted. He could not really see where she was going with this line of questioning. Hopefully, it would not show him up too badly. Barty Crouch did not believe his career would fare well after this trial. The press was going to savage him and he could kiss goodbye to any ambition he may have to be the Minister of Magic.

"Your Honour, I would like to submit this file for identification as Prosecution evidence item No 125."

"Clerk of the Court, label it so," directed the sitting Chief Warlock.

"Mr Crouch, how do you know this file, prosecution item No 125, is a child welfare file?" Amelia wanted to draw all the facts out since he had already had given her two good gold nuggets. She was giving the court breadcrumbs to lead them to the conclusion she wanted them to make.

"By its colour, by the different markers and, of course, by its labels. Additionally, it is also marked as coming from the Ministry of Magic Archives."

"Please describe to the court the various markers for us, as not everyone knows the document management system."

"It is a dark brown manila file, the correct colour for an official Ministry of Magic file. On the back leaf of the file is the Ministry of Magic's logo identifying it as an official document of the Ministry." He had turned the file over to point out the logo to the court before turning the file in his hands again so that the court could see the spine.

"The colours here on the spine are a blue bar, indicating that it's a DMLE file, and a yellow bar, further indicating it's a child welfare file." Barty Crouch then turned the file so that the court could see the front cover. "Again you can see the colours repeated on the cover from the spine. The whole purpose of the colours is so that if you were looking for the file on a desk you could find it quickly."

"Can you please read out the details of whose child welfare file it is?"

"It's for Harry James Potter, born on the thirty-first of July 1980."

"Can you open the file and read the inside cover index of documents for the court?" requested Amelia. _Please, please don't be an ornery bugger and ask why right now,_ she prayed.

"Item 1, birth certificate; item 2, heath report; item 3, incident report for parents' deaths; item 4, summary of welfare needs; and item 5, certified copies of parents' wills. That is all that there seems to be listed in the file."

"Is that a normal size file for a child welfare file?"

"No, it seems a bit light on detail."

"In what way is it light on detail? Could you please explain this statement to the court?" she asked. _Come on, fishy, fishy. Let me hook you, please,_ she was almost whispering aloud.

"Umm." There was his trademark tell of the wobbling of his lips, matching the cogs and wheels of his brain ticking over. "There should be placement assessments and placement follow up reports for the child. There should also be assessments about his then magical guardian, together with current assessments about his current magical guardian and visitation reports to confirm that he is safe and secure."

"Mr Crouch, I ask you to flick through the file and run your professional eye over it to confirm that the index matches the contents?"

"Umm, there seems to be some serious problems with the contents. There only appears to be two out of the five recorded documents logged that should be in the file. There is no health report, welfare assessment or copies of the wills."

"Can you advise who signed that they had placed the wills' documentation into the file?"

"I did. I distinctly remember putting it in here. I remember reviewing the file to make sure every 'i' was dotted and every 't' was crossed. I can't understand why these documents appear to be missing because I remember reading a health report and welfare assessment."

"Looking at the documents which are in the file, can you advise if all is in order?"

"Umm, the birth certificate is missing details and there is only a shortened incident report. From my memory, the full, final incident report had been included."

"How would you describe the file?"

"It is not up to the usual standard. It is not up to the standard of when I signed off on it."

"Do you know why it is this way?"

"No, I don't, but someone has tampered with it since I signed it off on the third of November 1981, when I lodged the copies of the Potters wills' in the file. Someone has altered this file."

_Yes! I've won that point and the next couple as well, to win the whole rally with that nugget of a statement,_ gloated Amelia gleefully. All too quickly, she finished with Barty Crouch Snr, proceeding to lay the foundations of her case against Dumbledore. Yesterday had been the start and now she was about half way through the case. Amelia clarified a few more minor details and then handed the witness over to the Defence.

"In your earlier testimony, Barty, you mentioned that there was almost a riot in the holding cells when the other prisoners overheard Black admit it was his fault for the deaths of James and Lily Potter. So you can say that shipping him to Azkaban without a trial was for his own protection? A form of protective custody, you would say?"

"You could put it that way," Barty Crouch conceded warily.

The rest of the day did not involve any further explosive witnesses like the Director of International Sports and Games, but that did not stop many of the observers on the court benches and in the gallery areas from sitting on the edge of their seats. Many a former Ravenclaw was putting two and two together to come up with an inkling of Madam Bones' prosecution plan. There was a commentary in the Daily Prophet, assessing the competence of the Defendant by Rita Skeeter, but that was more gossip than fact, as normal.


	13. Brother against Brother

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 13: Brother against Brother**

The third day of the Prosecution presentation of their case against Albus Dumbledore was spent reviewing the last two days of testimony, reminding the court of the findings so far. Amelia had updated her timeline file and all the court members had their copy magically expanded with the new details that she had presented to them through the use of witness testimonies and supporting presentations. After getting everyone mentally back in the game, Amelia Bones called her first witness of the morning and knew it was make or break time. Aberforth Dumbledore had been sworn in and had taken a seat in the witness box.

"Mr Dumbledore, I believe that you have not spoken to your brother for a number of years, is that correct?"

The man was a grey, salt and pepper version of Albus Dumbledore, except that his beard was shorter and closely clipped to his face, not the waist length beard his brother sported. The other thing was his eyes were different from his brother. Aberforth Dumbledore's eyes told of great sadness, and his whole body stature seemed to be dragged down by the weight of his sorrows.

"No, we have not spoken since 1899. We have shouted, threatened and hexed each other a few times since then, but we have not had a civil conversation," the quietly spoken man advised the court. The wriggling in the seats had stopped. Until this trial, most people had not realised that the two men were brothers. They looked similar so anyone who had wondered about their relationship – Dumbledore was not exactly a common name – had passed it off as distant, but to hear now that they were actually siblings who had been feuding for nearly a century had captured everyone's interest.

"Could you please advise the court of the details as to why this was such a significant date regarding the falling out between you and your brother?" Madam Bones was highly aware she needed to go gently with this man, as he could probably snap her in two from his years of carrying beer barrels, not to mention the likelihood that he had the ability to do wandless magic.

"My brother and I had a falling out over the care of our Mother who had fallen ill during my OWL year. He was too busy to check up and help her, with his carefree ways and new position in London. She needed help with Ariana but wasn't getting it. I believe that she died as result of my brother's neglect, as she was overworked dealing with Ariana's magical outbursts. My sister had rejected her magic and thus was prone to having accidental outbursts, since she didn't want to use her abilities.

"The year before, when Albus started carrying on with Gellert, he kept skiving off, leaving me with all the work around the house, including the care of Ariana. So there was some animosity already there between my brother's lover and myself. Albus and I were having a forceful discussion about him leaving me yet again to go off with his lover for another shag when Gellert fired a hex at me. I responded. It was then when the two told me that for the greater good my Hogwarts education was over, as I would be staying home to mind Ariana. This was against the wishes of both our parents. Then the hexes started flying.

"I had been home for two weeks and I had barely seen Albus, although I had received plenty of notes with lists of chores in both Albus' and Gellert's handwriting. The gramophone had been playing all hours of the night and they kept forgetting to use silencing charms, so both Ariana and I were a little sleep deprived. That was another reason why I was arguing with Albus and Gellert, as my younger sister really didn't need to hear their sexual exploits and kinks, thank you very much. If you want to practice your kinks that's ok, but keep it in the privacy of your own playroom. Ariana was only 14 years old, and innocent.

"Unfortunately, Ariana heard us arguing and came out to seek comfort from me. Gellert fired a curse to hurt her. He wanted to hurt her since she was getting in the way of his love affair. He believed she should be euthanised, as he thought she wasn't a proper witch since she had rejected her magic. Well, he certainly got rid of her: she was dead three days later."

It had been a heartfelt explanation about the dispute between the two brothers. When the man described the death of his loved ones, the tears had started to creep down his weathered face. He just kept talking and there was the sound of love and longing in his voice when he mentioned his sister, Ariana. Even after all these years the grief was raw. The courtroom was shocked to hear about Albus Dumbledore's sex life. Indeed, some of the older members of the courtroom were having unwelcome thoughts about his suitability to be a teacher for all those years, if he had kinks.

"Do you need a moment?"

"No, let's get this tempest over and done with."

"Mr Dumbledore..." Just then the witness raised his hand to indicate he wanted to interject. "Yu can just call me Abe, it will cut the confusion."

"Abe, can we now discuss the complaint made in 1914 to the Aurors?"

"Well, if we must. Just make sure you have a couple of buckets handy in case the audience is sickened by the topic. As I said, I prefer that people keep their personal kinks in private. Ariana's favourite pets when she was little were a Poitou billy and nanny goat. And goats being goats they bred and I soon had a herd of goats on my hands. So I got into cheese making, initially with our Mother, Kendra. It was a way of bringing in some extra income after our Father was sent to Azkaban for retaliating against the muggle boys who had attacked Ariana when she was young. When Ariana was older, she was able to help Mother and we had the basement of the Godric's Hollow house set up for cheese production. I have been a prize winning cheese maker for almost a hundred years.

"Well, anyway, after the fight where Ariana was killed, my brother and I continued to share the family house. I made sure he couldn't sell it and during my last two years of school, I brought the herd to Hogwarts where the then groundskeeper helped me to keep the herd.

"So after school, I moved back to Godric's Hollow and continued in the cheese business and extended my business to include the supply of bezoars. While I would see my brother occasionally around the house, we would only communicate by letter or notes. Now we only communicate via lawyers but back then we were communicating enough to manage the house while he was off gallivanting the world doing his oh, so important research and I stayed at home, keeping Ariana's goats.

"In 1914, there was something seriously wrong with the herd. I had noted that there was something wrong and I was finding signs that someone was mucking around with the herd, so I did a stake-out to find out who it was. When I saw who it was and what he did, I couldn't believe it. It was sickening that my own brother was that depraved. In October, I had spoken to an Auror I knew well from school and found out where I stood with the law. You know, what I could and couldn't do. It had got to the point where the goats were not producing any milk at all, costing me my livelihood, and I convinced the Aurors to do a one week stake-out. It was during that stake-out that Albus Dumbledore was caught red... (_the pause was soul destroying for everyone waiting to hear what had happened_) ...handed molesting my prize Poitou herd. He was caught, charged and found guilty. He was given a control order and was required to pay restitution. He paid by signing over the rest of the Godric's Hollow house to me. I couldn't stay there, though. Not after everything that had happened, so I sold the house and used the funds and my nest egg of savings to buy the Hog's Head Inn. There were grounds there to keep my herd and my brother could go and live in London with all his fancy boys.

"Then the ruddy bugger had to go and become a teacher at Hogwarts and I warned him if he ever came near my herd again I'd turn him from a billy into a nanny. He's been banned from my pub since 1915. My pub doesn't usually get the students and I prefer it that way but there are some who come by for a real country village pub visit. I still make cheeses and between the pub and my dairy and bezoar business, I'm comfortable."

"I'm sorry, Abe. Could you state plainly for the court what your brother was charged with, as there appears to be some discrepancy in the archive records details?"

"Albus was charge with gross public indecency, sexual offenses and thirty-seven acts of bestiality."

With that, there were cries of shock and horror. One witch actually fainted and the court Aurors had to clear that part of the public galleries. A short stampede by the journalists who had been covering the trial rushing to be the first to report this had been part of the reason why the Aurors cleared part of the galleries, to save the other bystanders from being crushed.

"So, Abe, you are not on good terms with your brother?"

"No, I am not and I am never likely to forgive him for Ariana and everything else."

"Since you live in Hogsmeade, have you ever heard anything suggesting further misbehaviour of your brother while he was a Professor or the Headmaster at Hogwarts?"

"I have had my suspicions but I never have been able to get any proof. There are probably others out there who you can contact, who probably have details."

"Thank you for your time, Abe."

"I do not wish to cross examine this witness."

"Mr Aberforth Dumbledore, you may step down. Thank you for your time in helping the court with this matter."

Morris Ogden decided on an early lunch after the shocks of the morning's testimony from Ab Dumbledore. There was no way Albus could have done a cross examination so Amelia had 'stuck it' to the so-called great man good and proper. The public galleries were packed and since there was so much demand, it was decided that they would broadcast the proceedings into level eight of the Ministry. The Atrium was a large enough area where the public could be contained and controlled easily by a squad of Aurors. Additional security checks were implemented so that those who attempted to go down to level ten and Courtroom 10 had to pass the heightened security.

The first witness for the afternoon session of the court was one Lord Sirius Orion Black. He looked magnificent as he strode towards the witness box in his traditional wizarding family robes. The crest of Black family shone brightly on the dark, luxurious, black satin robes. Underneath the robes he wore what looked like a Seville Row tailored suit that had dull metallic flecks within the woollen weave. It may have been a dull metal but it still was striking when he moved. The witness was duly sworn in.

"Good afternoon, Lord Black. Would you please describe your school years at Hogwarts under Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"I enjoyed my time in Gryffindor as a prankster and made good friends with the three other boys in my dorm: James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Unfortunately, I was an immature prat and had been brainwashed by my family and then by Headmaster Dumbledore into perpetuating the schisms between the Houses. When I was sorted into Gryffindor, I broke with my mother. When I returned home after my first year, she almost beat me to death. When I returned for second year, James found out and after that made sure I didn't have to go home for the whole holidays. There was always a room for me at Potter Manor. I had complained to Headmaster Dumbledore about the situation but he claimed there was nothing he could do, as the law did not allow him to interfere with a parent's rights.

"So as part of my immaturity, I blamed the House of Slytherin for my mother's attitude towards me and I started an all-out prank war with the House of Slytherin, which moved fairly quickly from pranks to hexes. This continued for years. When I was caught, I was given a minor slap over the hand by the Headmaster, even though I should have been more severely punished. After another near-death beating during the summer after my fourth year, I took permanent refuge with the Potters. Unfortunately, I was angry at the world and to me, any Slytherin was just another filthy Slytherin like my mother. Father wasn't involved because he was well away from his hated wife chasing his latest Parisienne mistress. He had done his duty with the heir – moi – and a spare – my baby brother, Regulus. We never saw him other than at the official Black House meeting each year, which was a grand total of three or three-and-a-half hours in public.

"In our fifth year, I, along with James and Peter, had finally managed to become an animagus to help support our friend Remus, who is a werewolf, with his transitions. There was no Wolfsbane then and he would be isolated during the full moon in the Shrieking Shack. Regrettably, I decided to play a foolishly heedless prank on another student from Slytherin House, who we had been at all out war with since first year, because his best friend from childhood was a Gryffindor. In my jealousy over this inter-house friendship, I did something that I regret to this day and let it slip to the Slytherin boy in a manner that challenged his great curiosity about how Remus would enter the Shrieking Shack from Hogwarts. It almost cost the life of the boy concerned, not to mention what would have happened to my friends, Remus and James. In fact, it was only thanks to James that nothing tragic happened and yet Albus Dumbledore didn't do anything but swear the Slytherin victim to silence.

I should have been in detention for years at the very least but instead I got off scot-free while this boy was treated by the Headmaster as though he were the one at fault instead of a genuine victim. If the boy had been bitten and infected with lycanthropy – or worse, killed – Remus would have been executed for the attack, even though he had taken shelter in a building which had been secured by the Headmaster. As it was, James didn't talk to me for months after he had saved the boy from being attacked and when he did it was to read me the riot act.

"Still he brought me home that summer to Potter Manor. Charlus had heard all about the incident and was horrified at the risk I taken, the stupidity of the act and the implications that I didn't consider. I received punishment from Charlus but he proved to me I was loved, even though I had been foolish and had done something despicable. James grew up that summer and he started to make me grow up, too.

"However, tactlessly, just after the OWL exams I attacked the same Slytherin boy again and publicly humiliated him, blaming him for the discord between James and myself. I'm sure Charlus gave me another couple of strokes of the slipper over that event when I was punished at Potter Manor. It took another couple of years with the guidance of James and his father, Charlus, until I finally grew up but I did eventually, especially after Alastor Moody got ahold of the pair of us as young Auror recruits and started whipping us into shape.

"James and I were more than best friends, we were heart brothers. While we may not have been biological brothers, we were blood brothers. During that summer after fifth year, we performed a blood brother ritual. The Potter family was my family and with their help, I was trying to get my brother out of the clutches of my mother. Unfortunately, the war got in the way and I was too late to save him."

"Why have you outed your friend, Remus Lupin, as a werewolf but have not named the Slytherin Boy?"

"Remus gave me permission years ago to share his condition with the public. He works with Lilybells Werewolf Reserve and Safe Places. He has been openly registered as werewolf since he completed his Mastery of Defence against the Dark Arts. The Slytherin boy in question hasn't given me any such permission. I may not have protected him in the past but I will not harm him now. You will have to ask the right Slytherin if you want to find out which boy it was."

"Can you go on now to explain life for you after Hogwarts with your friends, James and Lily?"

"I was James' best man when he married Lily in 1978, the summer straight after graduation. The pair of them honoured me with the role of godfather for their first child, Harry James Potter. Sadly we didn't get to meet their second child. Due to our close relationship and the fact there was a war on, James and I performed the pureblood, traditional godparent rituals where I promised to care for and protect his son as my own flesh and blood."

"Now, you were James' Auror partner. Were you involved in any other wartime activities, besides the Auror force?"

"After the deaths of Charlus and Dorea Potter, Headmaster Dumbledore asked us to join a secret society called the Order of the Phoenix, which he claimed was a Light organisation he had founded, whose goal was to stop the Death Eaters and that megalomaniac, Tom Riddle."

"Who was Tom Riddle?"

"He was better known as Lord Voldemort, the leader of the Death Eaters. Fortunately, when Peter betrayed James and Lily as their secret keeper, Riddle was killed by some ancient runes that Lily had used to protect Harry's cot. When Riddle shot the curse at the boy it backfired, from what we can tell of Harry's nightmares of that night. Yes, my godson has the horror of watching his mother beg for his life while the snake faced man fires a green spell at her and then at him."

The audiences listening to Sirius' testimony, both the members of the court and the general public, were horrified to hear that the child still remembered witnessing his mother's murder and was plagued by nightmares of the event.

"As members of the Order of the Phoenix, what were your main duties?"

"When not on duty as Aurors, James and I would be part of an urgent response team for public areas like Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade to protect the public against Death Eaters. We also collected information and tracked known sympathisers. Where possible, we would report our findings to the Auror Corps but individuals often got off due to back payments from powerful friends. We all remember how leaky the Ministry was during the war. If we had intelligence and we couldn't get an Auror Corps response, the Order would respond instead, trying to save the victims of an attack."

"You say that Peter betrayed James and Lily?"

"Peter was their secret keeper for the cottage in Godric's Hollow. Albus Dumbledore knew this as he had been the one to perform the charm."

"Why did the Potters believe they needed such protections for their home and family?"

"Lily and James had defied Tom Riddle three times. Lily, while doing her Charms and Runes masteries, was still an active front line witch for the Order of the Phoenix. She wanted payback as she believed that Riddle had ordered the deaths of her parents who died, according to the muggle authorities, in an unexplained gas accident. However, to magicals, the Morsmordre mark was clearly visible above their home and when the Aurors looked over the case, it was determined they were both killed by means of the Killing Curse. Unfortunately, even if we could have captured the culprits, we still could only really have charged them with muggle-baiting. A pureblood on a muggle murder charge wouldn't have stood up in the courts of the time if the right bribes were paid.

"Well, anyway, there was a prophecy that said that a child born as the seventh month dies to parents who had thrice defied the Dark Lord would be marked as his equal. Neither could live while the other one did. So Tom Riddle was gunning for them and Harry. He was also gunning for the Longbottoms and their son, Neville. The Aurors Longbottom had denied three times him as well, so both children could have been the one, as Neville was born on the thirtieth of July and Harry one day later, on the thirty-first. In the end, it was Harry who got the mark by means of his scar and the curse backfired to kill Voldemort."

"So Albus Dumbledore knew of the prophecy?"

"Yep, he was one who heard it from the Seer who made the prophecy."

"Albus Dumbledore knew that you were not the secret keeper for the Potters?"

"That is correct. He knew and he believed it was a good prank for the world to believe that I was the secret keeper, as it helped to direct attention away from Peter. Of course, we all trusted Albus and with James' and my love of pranks, we immediately agreed. Albus knew we wouldn't be able to resist the idea if he suggested it."

"So what happened the night you were captured?"

"I was planning to drop round to visit as normal when I came upon the house in a state. Albus Dumbledore was already there and he said he would get Harry to medical attention with Poppy Pomfrey at the school and charged me with checking on Peter. If Peter was alive, I was to take him and bring him into the Auror offices."

"Well, I went to Peter's flat. He wasn't in but I knew he couldn't be far away, as he was halfway through packing to run. There were belongings there in his flat that he would never leave behind. So I went down to the street to see if I could see him around because it was likely he would have gone to get some food. That's when he spotted me before I spotted him and he immediately started a duel with me in the muggle area.

"I just couldn't believe it. We traded taunts and in the end I was almost hysterical with grief, especially after the Aurors arrived and he accused me of betraying James and Lils. He shot a blasting hex at the gas main, cut a finger off, changed into his animagus form of a rat and then disappeared in the fire and smoke down the sewer. Meanwhile, twelve muggles were killed and the Auror team and I were injured. I remember finding myself in the DLME watch house cells surrounded by familiar Death Eater faces and lots of drunks. I was so out of it, I really don't remember much about what happened after the gas explosion, except for a killer headache. I probably had concussion but I don't remember seeing a Healer. If I was blaming myself for James and Lily's deaths, it would have been because I had agreed to the deception and had allowed Peter to be the secret keeper when I knew he was a bit of a coward, instead of insisting on being the secret keeper myself.

I finally gave up waiting for Albus to get me out of the cells. All he had to do was tell the truth and order an investigation. The Priori Incantatem on my wand would have been enough proof. So I crashed out with exhaustion and the next thing I knew I was in Azkaban, feeling the cold of the Dementors who haunted my cell at least once an hour. Thank Merlin for my animagus ability, as I wouldn't have survived more than six months in that place otherwise. Their effect was far less in my animagus form than in human one, as the Dementors can't really sense animals very well. In the end, a privateer brought the rat animagus, Peter, into the Ministry and the whole sorry saga was sorted out."

"My understanding is that there has been some sort of dispute between yourself and Albus Dumbledore?"

"Yes, we are no longer close. In the end, many others and I resigned from the Order. When he failed to get me out of Azkaban so I could look after my godson, he proved that he was just playing a game. People are just pieces on a chessboard for him to play with, for his self-aggrandisement and corrupt idea of the greater good. He left me to rot, even though he knew I was Harry's rightful guardian and godfather under the old ways and therefore couldn't have betrayed or harmed him. No trial and no investigation, even though he was a so-called great believer in the rule of law and justice. He was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and could have demanded I be questioned and receive a trial. Yes, he really believes in justice. Well, he does when he wants to put on a show for the public so we'll all be good little pawns who will be ready to fall on our swords at his command, so he can get what he wants, when he wants it.

"After I was released from Azkaban, he tried to declare me unfit and kept trying to send Harry back to his muggle relatives. I got the real wills of James and Lily from their and my accounts in Gringotts. There was no way on earth they wanted their child with her sister. Lily's sister, Petunia, hates magic and she took this hatred out on Harry. When we got him back from there, he had a long list of injuries. They had him locked in a cupboard. He didn't even have a proper bed and he was barely fed.

"No, Dumbledore knew the truth and wanted me out of the way. I can provide proof that he fraudulently stole funds from the Potter accounts and I have paid for an investigation by the forensic accountants at Gringotts into the accounts of other orphans for whom he was listed as magical guardian. There seems to be quite a number of wealthy, magical children under his guardianship who have strangely died before reaching the age of maturity at seventeen. It sounds wrong, it looks wrong and it sure as heck smells wrong. I believe that Dumbledore has a case to answer for fraud and the unexplained deaths of children who were in his care."

Could the case get any more explosive with these additional allegations? Revelation after revelation was coming out. The goblin forensic accountants testified after Sirius Black. Dumbledore had not even bothered to challenge Sirius' and the goblins' testimony and the allegations. The upper public galleries of the court had to be cleared and they were now running feeds to the Atrium and the other courtrooms, except for one small courtroom that was doing a roaring trade handling the misdemeanours that were occurring in all the chaos.


	14. Deposition of Dumbledore

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 14: Deposition of Dumbledore**

Amelia Bones had worked herself into a fine tizzy preparing for today. Last night she did not get much in the way of sleep as she reviewed and counter reviewed her tacticts for when she questioned Dumbledore. She had the old coot in her crosshairs and she wanted to make sure she got him bang to rights. During the trial, he had certainly demonstrated behaviours which many would classify as a couple of scales short of a dragon but she knew he was worse than that – he was as mad as a box of chocolate frogs. The problem she had was that at other times the man could still be logical and she did not want Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore to get off scot-free. Today was the day she was going to call him as her witness.

After the initial court opening procedures, Albus Dumbledore was brought up from the cells. Today he was in his sparkly lime green set of robes. Amelia mentally rolled her eyes. At times he reminded her of that flambouyant muggle singer, Liberace.

"I call upon the Defendant, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, as the next witness for the Prosecution." There was a stir from the galleries, even though most of the public were in other locations watching the trial via viewing spells.

The court Aurors escorted the man from his seat on the defence bench to the witness box, where he was sworn in with a court wand, as they certainly were not about to allow this wizard to have access to his own wand.

"Mr Dumbledore, did you have a relationship with Gellert Grindelwald in 1898 to 1899?"

"Yes, as you have heard from others, Amelia. Gellert and I were lovers from the summer of 1898. We had met after I had returned from Hogwarts to Godric's Hollow after completing my NEWT year."

"Mr Dumbledore, you are reminded to respect the positions of the court representatives. The Prosecutor will be referred to as Madam Bones or Madam Prosecutor," advised the Chief Warlock, Morris Ogden. He had already reminded the man on more than one occasion. "If you continue to disregard the traditions of the court I will have no hesitation in adding a contempt charge. This is your last warning, Mr Dumbledore."

"Mr Dumbledore, please advise the court what you and Mr Grindelwald were involved in during your relationship?"

"We were intellectual friends first and looked into many things before we became lovers."

"It has been said that you and Gellert Grindelwald were involved in the study of the Dark Arts is this true?"

"We studied an number of things and that may have included Defence Against the Dark Arts, which means we would also have to study the Dark Arts so that we could know how to defend against them."

"It has also been said that you practised the throwing of dark spells and hexes, is this not true?"

"I practised with Gellert defending against dark spells and hexes." He was prevaricating. She was going to get him to admit that he cast dark spells.

"Can you please explain to the court how you practised defending against dark spells and hexes with Gellert Grindelwald?" probed Amelia Bones.

"One would throw the hex and the other would respond with the appropriate counter charm or spell." Amelia was getting frustrated as he just would not come out and say it. _Right time to nail him to the wall,_ thought Amelia.

"Did Gellert practise to improve his skills?" she asked.

"Yes, we both practised"

"Did you practise in the same manner?"

"Yes, it was a joint endeavour."

"So he would cast and you would counter cast and then you would reverse the roles So you, Albus Dumbledore, would cast dark spells at your lover so that he could practise his defence against them?" stated Madam Bones pointedly. She was looking at him sharply, hoping he would try to wiggle out of that statement.

"Yes, that is the normal manner of duelling practice."

"So we can assert that you both know and would cast dark hexes and spells."

"Yes we thought it was the only way we could prepare and practise."

"What were you both preparing for?" Amelia pressed for details.

"We believed that there was the likelihood of a new dark lord arriving, given the conflict of the time. There was so much conflict at the time in Europe and even here in Britain. The same conflict can be seen in the muggle historical accounts of the time. There were signs of war and the muggle First World War began in 1914. Wizards were lost in the trenches of Flanders in that war."

"So you believed that you had to prepare. Why?"

"Gellert and I both believed that there needed to be changes to the political systems of our countries. The Wizengamot was too staid, too hidebound. We were young bucks who wanted to throw over the controls of our elders. Gellert had been expelled from Durmstrang for that reason as he had argued too often with his parents and professors."

"At the time, you both saw yourselves as young reformers?"

"Yes, we wanted reforms."

"Have you achieved the reforms that you and Gellert wanted to bring about?"

"Some we have but others not. Of course, as I grew older, I learned to compromise and gained a greater respect for tradition."

"What did you want to change?"

"We wanted to change how and when the magical world integrated with the muggles."

"Have you really made any changes to the integration?"

"No, it has been for the greater good that the wizarding world keeps separate from the muggle world. The need for this could be seen in the causes of the muggle second world war."

"Can you please explain this concept of 'the greater good' to the court?"

"The muggle novelist, Charles Dickens, wrote in his novel _A Tale of Two Cities_ that _The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one._ Before that, Aristotle, wrote in _The Aims of Man_ that _Even supposing the chief good to be eventually the aim for the individual as for the state, that of the state is evidently of greater and more fundamental importance both to attain and to preserve. The securing of one individual's good is cause for rejoicing, but to secure the good of a nation or of a city-state is nobler and more divine._ These define the concept of the greater good. The greater good means that one individual may have to be sacrificed for the benefit of the wizarding world as a whole."

"According to your brother, he was going to be forced to stay home as your younger sister's carer after the death of your mother, is this true?"

"Yes. I had a job in London and Nicholas Flamel was starting to collaborate with me on my research."

"So it was for the greatest good of the magical world that you continued in your research with the alchemist, Nicholas Flamel?"

"Yes."

Holding up a Chocolate Frog card with its iconic image of the Defendant, Amelia Bones turned to the witness and asked, "According to your Chocolate Frog card, which, Your Honour, I now admit for identification as Prosecution evidence item No 274, you researched the uses of dragon's blood with the famous alchemist?"

"Clerk of the Court, mark it as Prosecution item No 274," directed Morris Ogden. "Answer the question, Mr Dumbledore. What did you research with the alchemist?"

"Yes, we were investigating the use of dragon's blood and found twelve uses."

"Was that important enough to justify interrupting your brother's education?" probed Amelia

"Yes, someone had to look after Ariana," snapped the man.

"Could you not have hired a nurse or a house elf?" inquired Amelia, trying to see if she could push any more of the man's buttons and let the real Albus Dumbledore out for the court to see.

"I was working in a low level, entry position within the Ministry of Magic and completing my research at night," explained the so-called Great Man.

"So you were too busy for your own family. We have all heard that you spent a large amount of your time with your lover and that this was a factor in your mother's death. Can I ask again what is the importance of dragon's blood as a magical ingredient?"

"It is important for many magical potions, too numerous to mention," asserted Albus Dumbledore in that patronising tone she had always hated, both at school and here in the Ministry over the years.

"Can dragon's blood be used as a spot remover and oven cleaner?" she asked.

"Yes, that is two of the uses," confirmed the man with a twinkle in his eye.

"So your brother's education was less important than an oven cleaner? How very altruistic of you." There was derision at the man's research findings and much laughter when it had come out that two of the uses of dragon's blood the man had identified were so trivial.

"You had a job and a very active social life and you were also undertaking important research, thus you were too busy to care for your grieving brother and sister. Aberforth, your brother, completed his NEWTs without your assistance on a scholarship grant. Did you know that he got higher grades than you and in more subjects?"

"He was the more academic brother when we were younger and I was the more practical," asserted the man with a shrug of his shoulders, as if to say that things change.

"Your Honour, I would ask the court to admit the NEWT results for both Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore as Prosecution evidence items 275 and 276."

"Clerk of the Court, mark them as Prosecution items 275 and 276."

"Can you please advise the court what your brother did on completion of his NEWTs?" she probed again.

"I don't know what he did. We were not exactly speaking then."

"Can you remember where you saw him at that time?"

"I would see him in the house we shared at Godric's Hollow and he would floo out each day. There were times I saw him in the Ministry but we didn't have tea together."

"Did you know that you brother was a top researcher with the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries? He was, and still is at times, an Unspeakable. Wouldn't you say that was an important job?"

"I wouldn't know, as they are known as Unspeakables," joked Dumbledore, believing he had scored a hit against her.

"I have permission from the Head Unspeakable to discuss your brother's career. Did you know he was responsible for finding part of the vaccine for Dragon's Pox, improving Gunhilda of Gorsemoor's cure for this deadly disease?"

"No, I did not. Maybe he should have his own Chocolate Frog card, like Gunhilda," he deadpanned, playing the sympathetic brother who supported his sibling.

"Did you also know that he worked with the muggle biochemist and microbiologist, Selman Abraham Waksman, to develop antibiotics during the 1940s amidst the muggle Second World War?" she asked, again hoping to prove that there was more to Abe's career than that of Albus' own as an educationalist.

"No, I did not. We stopped talking after the troubles between us in 1914."

"What, may I ask, were you doing in 1939?"

"I was working as a Professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts."

"This is while your brother, Abe, was undertaking research and missions in Germany for the Unspeakables, investigating the wizarding involvement in the German Nazi party. According to your Chocolate Frog card, you only got involved in the Second World War in 1945, when you helped capture your former lover, Gellert Grindelwald, in a duel. Can you explain to the court how you duel with a muggle pistol?"

"It's similar to a wand duel. You stand back to back and then count off ten paces, before turning and then firing," explained the wizard.

"How far would you say that a pace was in metres?" asked Madam Bones. The audience were on the edge of their seats, sensing was asking something important now. There was a smell of blood in the air and the sharks were circling.

"A pace by a man of average height is about one metre, or three feet," advised Albus Dumbledore in a lecturing tone.

"Would you say that you are of average height?" inquired Amelia.

"I would say that."

"So if you and your opponent paced out ten paces, you should be at least twenty metres from your opponent, correct?"

"That would be logical," conceded the former Great Man

"Mr Dumbledore, I am asking you to look at the following photos, which, Your Honour, I request the court to admit as Prosecution evidence items 277 and 278."

"Clerk of the Court, mark them as Prosecution items 277 and 278."

"Looking at the photos, can you please describe what they are?"

"They appear to be photographs of the scarring on an individual's back."

"Yes, can you describe the shape and unique nature of the scars on this individual's back?" she pushed.

"The scars are like star bursts, with a central circle and petals coming out from the middle."

Waving her wand and casting a spell, the whole court could now see the photos that Albus Dumbledore was holding. They were in colour and the welts of the scars were red against the white skin of the victim. "These photos are of Gellert Grindelwald and I submit a muggle Forensic Scientist report as prosecution item No 279, and a wizarding Healer's report as prosecution item No. 280. Both agree that these wounds were made by a muggle pistol discharging at a close range of less than one metre. It actually has to be very close to the victim – almost touching distance – for there to be radial burns round the impact wound site of the bullet. So I assert that you did not fairly duel Gellert Grindelwald but rather sneaked up behind him and shot him in the back?"

"It was a fair duel. We were at war," asserted the wizard.

"The victim's own aunt, who sees him twice a year, reports that the wizard concerned did not believe that you duelled but rather you shot him in the back with no warning. This is a totally different picture to that given on your Chocolate Frog card. Let me read from the back of Prosecution item 274, the Chocolate Frog card: _Albus Dumbledore, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_. _Considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.' _Considered to be the greatest wizard of modern times. It wasn't very wizardry to shoot a man in the back at close range was it?'

"No."

"So you are famous for something you really didn't do, and for this you garnered great respect and fame?"

"Well, I did defeat a dark wizard who had joined forces with a dark muggle called Hitler."

"When did you join the British Army?"

"In 1944."

"So while you brother had already been reporting for years on the rise of a new dark power and working to remove it, you jumped on the bandwagon towards the end of the war and claimed all the fame yet again. I submit as Albus Dumbledore's enlistment papers as Prosecution item No 281, Your Honour."

"Clerk of the Court, mark the British Army Service Record as Prosecution item No 281."

Taking a sip of water, Madam Bones paused before continuing. "According to item 281, the British Army records, you did not join until December 1944, so you were only active for a grand total of six months. It was your brother's intelligence gathering which helped to track down the location of Grindelwald, who you then shot in the back on the third of May 1945, just five days before the unconditional surrender of the Germans on the eighth of May 1945. How many muggles died in that world war?"

"A lot," Albus Dumbledore replied tersely. He was not sure and he hoped that she would not press much further.

"One million? Two million? How many would you say?" she pushed for an answer.

_Thanks for the help, Amelia. I'll go with a large number,_ he thought before answering "About 10 million." Dumbledore then dropped his eyes to the floor, as though that was a horrible number and he could not bear the weight of that number. There was a slight shake to his head as though he was suggesting to the court that he felt it was a horrible thought, to have that many dead due to a war. His body language was designed to pull on the heartstrings of the court officials.

"I would like to correct you. Mr Dumbledore. It was more in the range of fifty to eighty million. There were at least ten million killed in the muggle death camps alone and twenty-two million military persons were killed. That does not include the civilians who were caught in the cross-fire of the fighting, died in bombings or were killed randomly or in retaliation by military personnel. So why did you take so long to get involved when, obviously, you could have stepped in earlier if you are one of the greatest wizards of this century? You are not really that great, are you, to allow all those deaths?"

Many a face in the various courtrooms had gone white with the thought that so many people had been killed. The entire magical population in the whole world could have gone within the total of the death camps alone. The numbers were sickening. The on-call Healers in the public gallery courtrooms had to treat a number of patients who were overcome at the colossal number of dead.

"After that experience, did you believe it would be better to ensure that children were cared for and that we did not get involved in war?"

"Yes. I tried to do that by supporting the orphans at Hogwarts who were impacted by the Second World War," asserted the former school professor.

"Did you really? Then why did students who had less than satisfactory homelives, as has been reported by other witnesses we have heard, advise that you, as their Head of House, then Deputy Headmaster and, later, as Headmaster ,advised them that you could not help them. One such child was the Head Boy in 1945, one Tom Marvolo Riddle, who went on to become the next Dark Lord Voldemort, who was only defeated in 1981. During that time, we lost 3,000 magicals and close to 100,000 muggles from Death Eater attacks. Why didn't you stop him coming to power? Why did he feel the need to kill muggles and halfbloods, even when he was a halfblood himself?

The court was gasping with the news. Madam Bones had written Tom Riddle's full name out in full in the air and when she identified him as Lord Voldemort, she had made the letters move into the anagram, "I am Lord Voldemort." Screams were heard at the sight of the writing and the sound of the name that most could not say, due to their fear and the history of the taboo that had been placed upon it.

"As a teacher, I have always been one to give individuals a second chance," asserted the man, as though that was enough of an answer for the court to justify his rationale.

"Not fairly, as we have heard from Lord Black. You seem to have had a bias against Slytherins. Was that due to Tom Riddle being a Slytherin?"

There was no reply but Amelia let it lie, instead continuing to interrogate Albus Dumbledore, trying to push for a heated answer.

"Why did you not punish the young Sirius Black when he almost killed another student through his reckless behaviour?" she queried, trying to get a true response. She was hoping that if she kept pressing he would lose control and answer unguardedly, and she was just about to score her jackpot.

"It was important that Lord Black as the Heir to the House was not a follower of the pureblood supremacist movement like his mother. The funds of the Blacks could not get into Lord Voldemort's hands," he snapped at her if she was a foolish child.

"So the halfblood child was hurt and the offence was unpunished for the greater good. Did you not consider that you could have been pushing supporters to Tom Riddle, as they saw the continued bias encouraged by you in the school, which then continued out into the wider society where Slytherins felt isolated."

"I needed to ensure that we had enough future light minded wizards to fight the dark," Dumbledore said, again demonstrating his attitude that his pupils were just chess pieces on his game board that he moved about to achieve his ends.

"It has been proven by the courts that Peter Pettigrew, once a member of your light movement, the Order of Phoenix, and a former member of Gryffindor was a Death eater. So you wouldn't say that you were successful in that aim would you?

"Not entirely," he admitted thinking that that would be enough and she would move on to another point.

"The reality is that you try to find the best advantage for yourself so that you can live in the style that you wish to instead of what you really can afford, is that not so, Mr Dumbledore? It has been shown that you have taken advantage of orphan students who you are supposed to help by embezzling from their accounts and making sure that they are unprepared and unaware of their inheritances while you take advantage of the unclaimed monies.

"For someone who purports to be on the side of the light you actions over the years have certainly been grey, if not dark. You were the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. You were supposed to uphold the law and the rule of law and yet you, as a supposedly well-known light wizard, encouraged a man with an exemplary record as a Hitwizard and Auror, a member of your own light organisation, the Order of Phoenix, which was supposedly fighting against the Dark Lord, to be incarcerated without a trial. Why did Lord Sirius Orion Black not get a trial?

"He was in protective custody, as we were dealing with chaos of the end of the Blood War," was the man's justification, but it was evident to all who had followed the case presented by Amelia Bones that there was a different reason, namely the money in the Potter accounts.

"Protective custody, what rot! Sirius Black was in the maximum-security division of Azkaban where he was taunted by dementors on an hourly basis. He did not get medical treatment, no one followed the rule of law and took his statement or even investigated his so called crime. He only got a trial once it was proven that he had not received a trial previously.

"You declared Sirius Black guilty and threw him into Azkaban because it suited your grand plan to control the Potter heir. The Goblin Forensic Accountants have proved that you were dipping into his family accounts. You were a witness to the will of James and Lily Potter and proceeded to place Harry James Potter, against the wishes of his parents, with Lily's sister, Petunia. Why did you put him in a muggle home?" She had reminded those who had not been there earlier what had happened and pushed to get more details of the man's thinking in relation to Harry Potter.

"We thought that Sirius was guilty, the Longbottoms were in St Mungo's and you had enough on your plate with your niece Susan. The next closest relatives were all known dark families. I didn't want the child to be at risk from a dark family and I wanted to make sure he wasn't arrogant due to his fame. There were Death Eaters still on the loose at the time, so he had to go to the protection of his mother's blood and the blood wards that Lily had set up on her sister's home. The magical world need the Boy-Who-Lived as he would be needed again to ensure the defeat of Lord Voldemort when he returned. It was for the greater good of all.

"Hang on. So you falsified documents to support your game plan and put the child with his muggle aunt? How often have you counterfeited or edited documents in the Ministry of Magic?"

"I did what had to be done," asserted the man, demonstrating his arrogance and deluded self-belief that he was infallible.

Amelia was giving him enough rope to hang himself, and she moved on to the next point. "You believe that Lord Voldemort will come back and that Harry Potter, a child, will be needed to kill this dark wizard again?"

"Yes, that is correct. There is a prophecy that says that while either is alive, neither can live," he proudly stated, meanwhile many in the watching courtrooms thought he was several scales short of a dragon.

"This would be the Trelawney prophecy that was recorded with the Department of Mysteries?" she queried. He had stepped right into her plan.

"Yes. I was there when she gave it to me during a job interview in 1978." There was her confirmation and now she could sink her battleship.

"I have the Department of Mysteries transcript of the prophecy which I will now display on the side screen so all can read it. Your Honour, I would like this official prophecy transcript to be labelled as Prosecution item 282.

_"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

"Clerk of the Court, mark the transcript as Prosecution item No 282," advised Morris Ogden. He was watching a maestro at work with Amelia Bones's prosecution case. She was stringing the idiot up by his beard.

"Let us analyse this prophecy. We can say we can ignore the first line. When the prophecy was given in 1978, it indicated that would be someone with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord was coming but no there was no indication of a timespan of even which Dark Lord was being referred to. We are assuming that it was Lord Voldemort, also known as Tom Riddle, who was the current Dark Lord at the time when the prophecy was made in 1978. So if we assume a timespan of ten years, we can go through a list of people who had thrice defied him and who had a child. Well, that could have been many but the prophecy did not refer to notable individuals, we could say that there were two couples – the Longbottoms and the Potters – who both fitted the thrice-defied requirement.

"Added to that, both couples had a child born as the seventh month dies. That could be any time in the last few days of the month of July. So, again, we have both the Potters and the Longbottoms. Neville Longbottom was born on the thirtieth of July 1980 at 11:55pm, while Harry Potter was born at 12:10am on the thirty-first of July 1980. Not much time between the deliveries of both children.

"The Dark Lord will mark as his equal. The wizarding community counts the mark on Harry Potter's forehead, which he received in the attack that killed his parents that Halloween night in 1981, as the Dark Lord's mark. This could be described as marking him as his equal but it is a pretty foolish action.

"But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. We don't know what Lily did but we know she did do something that enabled the child Harry Potter to reverse the Killing Curse when it was fired at the toddler by the Dark Lord, causing the curse to bounce back at Tom Riddle, so that he was the one killed. We know it was the Avada Kedavra, as it has been reported that Harry Potter keeps seeing the colour of the spell fired at his mother and himself in his nightmares. We even have the man's wand and the last spells fired on that night were the Killing Curse.

"The next line is pretty self explanatory in that neither can live while the other survives. Since Harry Potter is alive it is evident that the Dark Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle, was killed that night. We have had no reports of the man. The goblin Bankers have reported that according to their systems, Tom Riddle is dead and they have awarded his accounts to young Master Potter as right of conquest. We do not have any loyal Death Eaters still alive. Just this Halloween past, according to the Department of Mysteries, all loyal Death Eaters died as a result of a failed link to their former Master. Observations of those who were unwillingly marked like Lord Malfoy and the DMLE spy, Professor Severus Snape, indicated that their Dark Marks faded after the death of the Dark Lord and that they disappeared completely this Halloween. It has been found that if the individual was still loyal, they died when their link to their Master finally dissolved.

"So Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort, is dead and of the assumption is correct that it was indeed referring to Voldemort as the specific Dark Lord, the prophecy has been completed it. Mr Dumbledore, would you agree that Harry Potter is alive?"

"Yes, the Boy-Who-Lived is alive," he had to confirm that he had left the boy as a baby on the doorstep of his aunt.

"Thus the prophecy has been completed?" Amelia Bones summarised.

"Yes, but..." he tried to come up with an alternative explanation without saying anything about the horcruxes but could not think of anything before she cut him off with another question.

"Have you had any reports of Voldemort since the thirty-first of October 1981?" she countered, stopping him from coming up with a contradictory statement.

"No," he had to agree there were no more reports on the man; it had been silent for years.

"His true followers are all died when their binding marks collapsed on the thirty-first of October this year, so he must be dead, too."

Since he was in the cells that night, Albus he could not counter what that statement. If the Unspeakables had found this to be the case, well, who was he to counter their knowledge? He was not going to admit he had no idea about what had happened. He had seen Lucius and Severus both being brought into the DMLE holding cells in the days after Halloween but he had not known the reason why.

Madam Bones had sunk Albus Dumbledore. Her prosecution case had taken his actions apart and had proven time and time again that he was a self-serving wizard who took advantage of individuals so he could benefit, whether by fame, position or fortune. He could not counter the case. When he tried to suggest that Voldemort was still alive and that they needed him to help defeat the Dark Lord, she had rebutted this argument by bringing evidence from the goblins. Amelia linked her arguments together and she stitched up every gap Albus Dumbledore left in his defence argument. In the end, he looked madder than a box of Chocolate Frogs for even suggesting that the latest Dark Lord was still alive.

The court found Albus Dumbledore guilty and all his accounts and belongings were to be liquidated and reparations were to be paid. The Great Man himself was sent to the maximum-security section of Azkaban for fifty years. It was the same place he had sent Sirius Black for 'protective custody' and there were some bookmakers who were giving short odds that the man would not last even until Christmas this year before he died in the dark, soul-devouring prison in the North Sea.


	15. Pureblood dealings

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 15: Pureblood dealings**

Early in the second week of the Dumbledore super trial one evening Amelia Bones received an urgent floo call from Madam Augusta Longbottom, the acting Headmistress of Hogwarts, over an imperative matter. It was then that the details of the attack on young Hermione Granger came out. The Head of the DMLE sighed a deep sigh before she flooed Kingsley Shacklebolt at his home.

"Sorry, Shack, but I need you to investigate an assault at Hogwarts," she advised her old friend, looking at his tired face. He sorely needed the time off but she also needed him on duty to cover for her, as only one of the best investigators she had available would do for this case.

"It doesn't rain but it ruddy well pours," he grumbled already knowing that something was up because she had called him at home and she had used their private code for private and urgent while confirming her identity.

"Well, there will be a full academic Conclave of enquiry at the school this Saturday, so you have until then to do the investigation. Madam Longbottom is waiting for you. The Headmistress' office floo is open and waiting for your investigative team. The suspect has been apprehended and is currently in isolation. I won't be on the Conclave, as I may seem biased thanks to the current trial and the whole DLME link, so Susan will be sitting as the Heir. She needs the experience anyway. Augusta will also be standing aside from the voting panel, since she also has a conflict of interest as the Acting Headmistress. I understand that young Neville will be also sitting as her representative. Basically, no staff members can sit in the jury in case of possible bias. Please remember you cannot discuss the case with any of the following list, as they will all be acting as the jury as the Board of Governors for the Conclave."

With that, Amelia sent through a list of the officials representing the Board of Governors to her Auror. Shack's partner, Lucasta Bowman, would be having kittens over participating in such a serious investigation, as she had only recently graduated from the Academy. Amelia finished the call and sat back with a strong snifter of brandy. She had to get through the trial of Dumbledore first and only then she could move onto the Hogwarts case. Her mind was in a tizzy and she really was not going to get much sleep. _Damn the boy! Why did he have to attack a Slytherin girl, this week of all weeks in my career?_ she thought.

oOoOo

Kingsley Shacklebolt had stood up from the floo call and promptly sworn his head off in the privacy of his small neat flat. At that moment, he was alone and the flat was secured against noise, so he could sleep at the end of split shifts. The flat was a small, silent oasis in his life and the frequency of how often he actually got to spend time there, let alone sleep there, was reflected in its pristine tidiness. It was not really tidiness but rather a lack of interaction between the owner and the objects within the room.

Auror Shacklebolt had been scheduled for the next four days off on leave and had planned a long weekend away with his current girlfriend. After floo calling his trainee partner, Kingsley quickly packed an overnight bag for a week and then took a moment to look at the list given to him by Amelia Bones:

1) Scion Susan Bones - representing Amelia Bones - Hufflepuff

2) Marjorie Diggory - wife of the Minister of Magic - Hufflepuff

3) Tyr Abbott - Hufflepuff

4) Scion Neville Longbottom - representing Augusta Longbottom - Gryffindor

5) Narcissa Black Malfoy - representing Professor Sirius Black - Gryffindor

6) Gareth Wood - Gryffindor

7) Alastor Moody - Ravenclaw

8) Todd Brocklehurst - Ravenclaw

9) Marlon Cornforth - Ravenclaw

10) Lucius Malfoy - Slytherin

11) Marius Flint - Slytherin

12) Horace EF Slughorn - Slytherin

The last thing Kingsley did before departing for Hogwarts was to call his girlfriend, who by the end of the floo conversation was no longer his girlfriend, as she was sick and tired of being his mistress, while his job was his wife. "Women! Can't live with them, can't live without them," he muttered crankily before he flooed into Hogwarts Headmistress' office, where Madam Augusta Longbottom greeted him.

oOoOo

Upon flooing into the Headmistress' office, Kingsley Shacklebolt immediately felt like he himself was on the mat facing the imposing, purebred lady for some infraction, even though he had graduated from Hogwarts twenty years ago.

"Auror Shacklebolt, where is your associate?" the no-nonsense Grande Dame of the Wizengamot asked, looking at him with a stare, which in Kingsley's private opinion, could strip paint and read the label of his underwear through his robes. Thank goodness he always followed his mother's advice and made sure had on clean, non-holey jocks when he left home, in case a bus hit him. You just have to love those Bahamian, muggleborn mothers! While he had learned there were many things you should handle with care as an Auror, he had learned as a small child not to mess with an Afro-Caribbean mother.

"I thought that trainee Auror Bowman would have arrived before me, as I had matters to attend to and complete for the Director," he explained to the formidable lady. She directed at him the same type of look his mother would give him when he would arrive home past his curfew. As with his mother, he was not going to advise this woman that he had been busy being advised that his pleasant little affair was at an end. Looking at the Grand Dame, Kingsley observed that she looked extremely tired.

"I'm required to sit in the Wizengamot all day at the trial and run the school by night. This incident happening on top of everything else couldn't have come at a worse time. Trouble always comes in threes. I have isolated the suspect under house elf detention and sent the primary human witness back to her dormitories with instructions not to speak to anyone about the matter. The main victim is under Poppy's care in the school infirmary. I have asked all the staff and prefects involved in the incident to make their way here. The girl is lucky to be alive; if it hadn't been for Severus' keen eye and the quick treatment from Poppy, we would be facing the sad tragedy of a student's death... No, I have not informed the parents yet, as Amelia believed that it would be better if we stabilised her before we took that step."

Kingsley could see the tension in her as she rubbed her fingertips against her scalp carefully to ensure that she did not muss her elaborate, formal coiffeur. The lady definitely had a tension headache.

"So I have until Saturday morning when I will be required to present the case to the Academic Conclave of Enquiry?" he confirmed with the Headmistress. Just as she was about to say, "Yes," the floo sparked and his trainee Auror arrived, ending up in a bundle on the floor. _Why, oh why, do they always give me the clumsy ones?_ he wondered.

"Now that you have arrived, Auror Bowman," the dark skinned, regal looking man snarked, and the trainee knew her supervisor was not happy. He did not have to say more, as it was evident in the tone of his rich, deep voice that at times other times was like liquid chocolate.

"Sir, I stopped and collected a copy of the formal rules and regulations from the archive in relation to Hogwarts' Conclaves of Enquiry," she explained, hoping this would lessen his ire.

Just then the Headmistress' guardian gargoyle advised that there were two Slytherin prefects requesting entrance to the office.

"Let them in," Augusta intoned, regally seated behind the large wooden desk in a tall backed chair like it was a throne.

As the students arrived, the floo opened up again. This time Professor McGonagall stepped through and was quickly followed by the Head of Slytherin, Professor Severus Snape. Both Professors looked angry and concerned. Minerva had that look which Kingsley remembered from his school days and knew it would take the only slightest piece of tinder for her to flash her famous temper. Or was that infamous temper?

"She has been stabilised and will be asleep until the morning. Poppy has placed her in the teacher's wing of the infirmary to ensure she is safe and secure," Professor Snape advised the Headmistress. "Her mother is going to kill me painfully when we go to tell her about the attack."

"Misty," called the Headmistress and when the elf appeared, she requested good strong pot of tea along with a batch of scones with jam. The sugar and warmth from a cup of tea would help everyone recover from the shock of this evening and the carbohydrates of the scones would be calming. Kingsley nodded at Augusta as if to say, "Yes, this is a good idea." Professor McGonagall quickly provided three transfigured couches so all those standing could be seated in this formal office.

"Everyone be seated," Augusta instructed and when Misty returned, she served everyone on behalf of the Headmistress. The start of the Auror briefing came with Augusta asking Miss Blishwick to state her involvement in the evening's event.

After listening to the two prefects report the details and answer a couple of queries, Kingsley dismissed them back to their House Common room and reminded them that the investigation meant they were bound to silence on the matter. Hearing about the severity of the earlier assault from Marcus Flint had caused both Aurors to look sharply at the Professors. Severus gave him a wry twist of his lips, indicating that there was probably more to this situation. Kingsley sighed. If there was indeed more to this, he only had a short time to get to the bottom of it.

It was decided in the meeting of the Heads of House that Professor McGonagall would monitor the boy and ensure his safety. They also assigned a house elf team to watch the boy continually, so he would not be alone in his confinement. To ensure that there were no claims of witness tampering, the Transfiguration Professor would not meet with young Miss Granger or any other Slytherin student without the presence of others to witness the interaction.

Looking at the time, Severus Snape could not believe that it was only 8:30pm; he thought it would be later than this. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. While he had got to know Dan and Emma Granger fairly well since 1982, he was not looking forward to the next hour or so when he went with the Auror team to advise that their precious daughter had been injured. Severus made a suggestion to Kingsley that since the child's parents were muggles, it would help to have a magical liaison that could help them in this mess.

_The young, know-it-all witch is definitely paying for her meddling in time,_ was extremely private thought that bubbled up into his consciousness, which he quickly buried.

_This could be the first of many misadventures,_ his subconscious again reminded himself of her previous actions.

_It would be hard on her family and it would be a great loss to the wizarding world if Fate claimed her early for her act of time manipulation,_ thought Severus as he listened to the procedures for Conclave of enquiry. He was definitely distracted about who the victim was and why the attack had happened to her.

After a brisk walk in the cold winter night out of the school and down to the gate apparition point outside the gates, Severus Snape asked the two Aurors to take his arm so he could side-along apparate them into the Patil Family Curry House on Charing Cross Road. On his entry into the wizarding section of this mixed company restaurant, there was a scream from Sadguna Patil, "Noooo!"

"The girls are fine, Sadguna" the Professor quickly advised, trying to calm his research friend who, upon seeing him and the Aurors together, had immediately leapt to the obvious conclusion that there was something seriously wrong with one of their twin girls. "No, I have come to ask for your help."

He paused and threw up a privacy charm. "I will need help with Dan and Emma."

"No, not little Hermione," whispered Sadguna, clutching her sari to chest in her concern.

"She's alive but she almost died and now we'll be having an Academic Conclave of Enquiry. It's the last thing we need, what with everything that's going on at the Wizengamot." He sighed again; his head was killing him. Sadajit Patil, Sadguna's husband, observing the Professor's body language, appeared with a refreshing ginger and lime juice drink. The ginger would help with the headache and the lime juice would help rebalance his body salts while rehydrating him. The poor man had probably been living on coffee again and not much else.

Sadajit tutted and then ordered the group to sit at a relatively secluded back table that was shaded from view of many of the restaurant's wizarding patrons. The man bustled about and the group quickly found a selection of sambals and other nibbles in front of them. Auror Lucasta Bowman tucked in quickly. She had not had a chance to have her evening meal and the scone was not enough after a long day in the field. In the fifteen minutes that they were seated there, Sadguna was brought up to speed and her assistance requested. They were going to need her aid when dealing with Emma, who was known for her explosive temperament.

Refreshed and with a plan, they then apparated to Emma and Dan's home in Crawley. They could feel eyes on them and Severus drew his wand defensively, scanning his environment to see that there was someone in the shadows of the trees along the footpath.

"Police! Come out where we can see you," advised Shacklebolt, using the muggle term since they were in a muggle area. He had pulled out a torch and flashed it amongst the tree trunks near the moving shadows.

"Shack," a familiar voice said as the tall frame of Sirius Orion Black stepped out of the shadows. "Sadguna" he greeted her with a nod. The two Professors glared at each other, as if to ask who was minding the school, if these two dangerous men were both off the grounds.

"What are you doing here?" inquired the lead investigator in the inquiry.

"Waiting for your visit to occur and then going to advise that they use the Goblin Nation to represent them over the attack. I was then going to throw my support behind the goblins that manage the Dagworth-Granger's Estate to hire a tip top lawyer to represent the child and her family for the Conclave," he said bluntly. So this Gryffindor was going to support one of Severus' little snakes. The Slytherin Head of House was shocked at the concern this pureblood Lord was showing this muggle family. It really was like he was a concerned muggle. Sirius and Severus were both aware that they were constrained by their role in the Conclave. Until they fully got rid of Albus Dumbledore as the official Headmaster, all the wards were still tied to the horrible man. Madam Longbottom had some control but not enough to remove the anti-muggle charm.

This family could not even visit their daughter in the school infirmary or participate in the academic enquiry into what caused the whole sordid affair of her physical assault by another student. Officially, they could only be contacted by the school in this manner and, legally, as muggles, they had little input. Justice was needed and Severus could see the benefits of using her inheritance. Time to use the pureblood conventions against the purebloods, while showing up the limitations of the current system.

Sirius faded back into the shadows on the street and the party of four continued on down the herringbone path towards the front door to knock for entrance. They had not got very far down the front path to the door when Dan opened the door. The look on his face was one Severus hoped he would never have to see. "She is fine now," advised Sadguna quickly and the man's shoulders sagged.

"Come on in. It must be serious, Severus, if you brought the Peelers with you," said the stoic man. It was at that point that Severus noticed Dan removing his hand from a shotgun trigger before replacing the firearm in its doorway hiding spot. He had opened the door prepared to shoot first and ask questions later. The Daily Prophet headlines must have shaken this man. They were supposed to be playing a round of golf on Sunday but with all the kerfuffle over Dumbledore's trial Severus had not been able to catch up with his golfing partner.

As predicted, Emma went off the deep end and Auror Bowman quickly applied a body binding spell. Sadguna, being familiar with the house, made a large pot of tea into which she sneakily slipped a calming potion. After getting Emma to settle down, Kingsley explained to the concerned parents that there had been an incident where two first year girls were physically attacked on their way back to the House Common room. The Auror went on to explain that they were investigating the incident and they would be presenting their findings at an Academic Conclave of Enquiry on the following Saturday morning.

After a couple of questions back and forth between the parents and the Aurors, Kingsley took his leave. As Dan walked the Aurors to the front door, he got a shock when the bald headed dark skinned Auror put his fingers into his mouth to produce a loud whistle, as though he was calling a dog in to herd a flock of sheep. A man stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself to be Lord Black. Dan walked down to greet the man. "Yes, Dan. I know about Hermione. I have even seen her. She's recovering well and is currently asleep and tucked up in the staff wing of the infirmary. Nobody Poppy doesn't want in there, will get in there. I got booted out when she settled down for the night."

Sirius joined Severus in the den, where Emma was still sitting on the couch looking frightened. Sadguna was patting the woman gently on her back. She had wrapped a lap blanket she had found on the back of a chair around the woman. Emma and Dan had wanted more children but Hermione was their only live birth. There had been several miscarriages and even a couple of still-births, and in the end they stopped trying, as it was just too heart-breakingly painful. Hermione was their precious only child and if anything happened to her, Dan was sure that Emma would follow her into the next world pretty quickly. He knew he would become a broken and bitter man without his wife and daughter.

Technically, as a squib, Dan could in fact be brought into Hogwarts to see Hermione but he was afraid to leave Emma alone. Thankfully, Sirius had a plan to help the couple see their child. Sitting next to Emma he brought out a mirror before softly calling "Poppy."

The kind blue eyes of the tired nurse appeared in the silvered glass. "I'm here with her parents. Please turn the mirror so they can see her," instructed the Transfiguration Professor. Emma gripped his hands tightly as she searched the pane for a glimpse of her child. The tears exploded when a bundle of bushy curls and a precious face, with small, pink chapped lips drooling onto the pillow, appeared in the mirror. It was their princess. Dan had moved Sadguna out of the way to hold Emma, while they drank in the sight of their beloved daughter sleeping peacefully.

"Thank you, Sirius" whispered Dan hoarsely.

With Sirius Black's advice, the Dagworth-Granger Estate engaged the Tonks & Tonks legal firm. Andromeda and Ted Tonks were going to represent the Estate and the Heir, who was the young Scion for the Estate. She may be muggleborn but by heck they were going to use the pureblood traditions to counter anything that Molly Prewett Weasley would sling at them. She was the hornet in the works, since the infamously vindictive woman was a loyal agent of Dumbledore. Severus had never really worked out the relationship between the two and he struggled to understand why Arthur Weasley had ever married the harridan, as he thought the man's attentions had been with another.

At Hogwarts' Friday night dinner, Augusta Longbottom in her role as the Acting Headmistress, stood up and, casting a Sonorus, addressed the school population. "I regret to inform you that the Hogsmeade outing scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled; a formal school event will be taking its place. All students are to be dressed in your full school uniform, including the official hat." Augusta almost smiled upon seeing the many cringes at that instruction, as most students ditched the hat very quickly after they started Hogwarts, however, circumstances were just too serious. "There will be one sitting of breakfast, from 8am until 8:45am, after which, the Great Hall will be closed for preparations by the house elves. At 9am, all students are required to return to the Great Hall for an Academic Conclave of Enquiry. This will be the first Conclave held at the school in many years and there are serious implications to this matter. After dinner tonight, all students are to return to their respective House Common rooms, where your Heads of House will be holding House meetings regarding the event tomorrow. You will then be restricted to your Houses until breakfast. Should anyone need to go to the infirmary during the night, please inform your House prefects, who will contact your Head of House to escort you there."

The shock of Hogsmeade being cancelled and the overnight restriction indicated to many that this was a serious event. Many students were frantically wondering if they even had a uniform hat in their trunks, or if they could manage to transfigure one before morning. There had been some whispers during the week about a student being hurt but for a formal court of enquiry to be called, it must have been very bad and there were whispers asking if someone died in an attack. It did not take long amongst some of the more gossipy pureblood and half-blood first years, such as Lavender Brown for example, a rumour had been started that Hermione Granger had been killed.

Professor McGonagall had muzzled the Weasley twins and their older brother, Percy, on the night the Aurors arrived in the castle, letting them know that their brother was being held for an attack on another student. She had also advised that she had contacted their oldest brothers to help support their parents in this time of need. The first year Gryffindor boys had not really noticed the missing boy and when one of the more observant boys had asked one of the twins where their brother was they had advised he was in the infirmary. His absence did not really bother the first year boys – quite the opposite in fact, as it meant that there was less snoring in their dorm. Indeed, many Gryffindors had been glad for the absence of the gluttonous boy and his poor manners at meals, as they could now eat a meal without being sickened by his wide gaping mouth, so he was happily and quickly forgotten.

The Heads of House and the prefects in each common room had to do some serious fire fighting to put out the panic and angst that the rumour of a student supposedly being killed had caused. In the aftermath of the House meetings, the prefects and Heads found that a number of students had more relevant information, so Kingsley Shacklebolt and Lucasta Bowman were rather busy that night, gathering this evidence and following up on other witnesses statements.

oOoOo

Due to the incident and the school's known issues with the matriarch of the Weasley family, Minerva McGonagall had sent letters, delivered urgently by house elf, to both William and Charles Weasley to come quickly to the school, since she needed their assistance with their parents. Charlie had flooed in from the dragon reserve, asking, "What have the twins done now?" before he had even removed the soot of his journey. He had been shocked to find it was his youngest brother who was the problem. The former head boy, Bill Weasley, had been a key ally for the Gryffindor Head of House to identify a good way to get round his mother, enabling the Headmistress to advise Arthur of the situation with his youngest son.

Headmistress Longbottom had spoken to Arthur Weasley at the Ministry during a break in Dumbledore's trial the day after the incident. It had been difficult getting the man alone, as Molly was present in one of the other courtrooms that were hosting the public galleries. Arthur Weasley had ended up taking the formidable lady to his office, explaining to his wife that it was a work matter, and thus he managed to have a meeting about his children, and the actions of one child in particular, without the hindrance of Molly's volatile reactions. It had been a shock for Arthur to find out that Ronald was going to be facing an Academic Conclave of Enquiry.

Professor McGonagall and the two older sons had flooed into the Ministry that lunchtime via the Auror's Office and then slipped down the corridor to the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts' office. It was decided that the two older boys would come home to the Burrow on the Friday and only then would Molly and Ginny be informed about the Conclave. If she had too much time to stew, Molly would explode and who knows where, when or what trouble she would cause. The Weasleys were trying to protect the family honour and ensure that they had a mother at the end of this drama. There was not much they could do other than employ a lawyer but that would be very difficult given the family finances. In the end, it was decided that all three men would sit with Ron during the trial, even though they were not allowed to interfere. Both parents were likely to be called as witnesses and cross-examined by the Conclave. It would be humiliating to face questions about their parenting abilities and family attitudes. It was very sad day for Minerva when she informed Arthur that this attack was not the first incidence of violence against a muggleborn student by his youngest son.

oOoOo

After breakfast that Saturday morning, many students were wittering about seeing all the staff in full dress robes. Normally these were only seen on rare formal occasions, or in the odd photo in various professors' offices. The everyday teaching robes were a simplified uniform compared to the formal dress. The apprentices were also all in dress robes.

Professor Snape was resplendent in his formal, dress robes, which were in the red colour of the Potions Guild and were embroidered and appliquéd with gold trim, indicating his ranking as one of the premier Potions Masters in the country. His robes also prominently displayed the crest indicating him as the Regent for the House of Dagworth-Granger. The man's hair was formally scraped back into a low, intricately bound queue, underneath a medieval-style tam. When the Professor strode through the Great Hall, his stunned students were relieved to see the black legs of the tall man below the robe in the shockingly Gryffindor colours.

The prefects ushered the students out to their common rooms so they could insure that they all assembled in the correct uniform. Promptly at 9am, the students returned to the Hall under the control of their House prefects, where they were ushered into new configuration of seating within the Great Hall. The normal layout with four long tables and a manorial head table at the top had been changed. Now, instead, there were stalls along either side of the Great Hall, with sections for each House, according to the placement of the House banners on the front of the gallery areas.

There was also what looked like a formal jury box stall across the head of the room, underneath the stained glass windows, that seemed to have beams of coloured lights picking out each individual seating place in this boxed-in enclosure. A section of seating across the back wall, next to the main doors to the Great Hall was reserved for the staff and apprentices of Hogwarts. There were a number of other seating arrangements as well, and it seemed that the school now was crowded with goblins who were acting as the court ushers and bailiffs in the small corridors between the various stall areas.

At 9:30am, there was a chorus of trumpets and the professors and apprentices filed in from the staff entrance at the side. There was a distinct order of presence with the lowest ranked first in the procession, as they would be seated in the highest level of the bleacher seats. The two male Heads of House each escorted one of the Lady Heads of House. Professor Snape had the Deputy Headmistress on his arm. Professor McGonagall looked stunning in her pointed hat and forest green dress robes, which were trimmed with purple, indicating her Mastery of Transfiguration.

The Headmistress followed the Heads of House. Not many of the students had realised that this formidable woman held an advanced Mastery in Defence Against the Dark Arts, as well as one in Herbology, until they saw the relevant trims on her dress robes, which also proudly displayed the Regents crest of the House of Longbottom. Retired Senior Auror Alastor Moody, who would be acting as the Conclave's jury foreman, was also in dress robes, trimmed to indicate his Mastery of Defence Against the Dark Arts.

This pair stood in the centre of the court area, while the next group paraded in, in a two by two formation. This group was the Board of Governors, who were the jury for the court. After bowing to the Headmistress and the Jury foreman, the pairs entered the wooden jury box, where they filled the back row first, before the front. There, at the gateway to the jury box was Moody's seat, where he was provided with a small desk so he could keep all the jury court documents in order.

Some of the students had noted that there were two students within the Governors' group. The students were both wearing their family robes as Heir to their Houses. The Scion Bones paraded in with her Aunt, who separated from the Governors to sit with the professors, where there appeared to be seats for more individuals waiting to be filled.

A goblin holding a set of scales then led in what looked like two legal teams. There was a witch with stunning dark hair and white streaks that splashed like a magpie's wing. This woman was wearing the formal legal robes and the horsehair wig of a Queens Council. She was with a man in similar legal robes but he wore the wig of a solicitor. Some students recognised the witch as Madam Andromeda Black-Tonks, the famous lawyer and sister of the infamous Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange. There was a little surprise when the two lawyers sat together at one end of the court table, which had been placed in the centre of the Hall, behind a banner with a Slytherin crest.

Madam Pomfrey entered with a sari wearing witch and two Slytherin robed first years who sat to the right side of the large table, next to the two lawyers. There were separate sections on this table, with the Auror Corps banner dividing it in half. One end of the table appeared to be blank, with no banner or anyone other than the seating.

Other officials, who looked like they were from the Ministry of Magic, also paraded in after the lawyers. Severus recognised some of his former students with a group of representatives from the Department of Education and the Examination Board. There was also an old face among the Ministry officials, who almost ten years ago had helped to rearrange the Professor's face in the infamous birthday party excuse incident. Thank goddess that lad had never chosen to go into any profession which required potions skills. Madam Griselda Marchbanks nodded in greeting at the Heads of House and sat next to Professor McGonagall.

A group of redheads entered: it was the Weasleys. The woman, who must be Molly Prewett Weasley, was seated in the Academic section. Arthur, supported by Bill and Charlie, sat at the other end of the trial table and nodded in greeting to both Alastor Moody and Madam Longbottom. Today would be extremely trying and one of great shame for him and his family. From what Augusta and Kingsley Shacklebolt had advised him about what had happened, there was no honour for their family in this matter.

Suddenly, Moody and Madam Longbottom moved together to stand in front of the jury, where the Governors were sitting. Holding their wands together, they swore an oath that they would uphold the laws and would work together to ensure that a fair Conclave occurred. The old Auror took his seat in the jury box at the end of the first row and Madam Longbottom sat in a seat in the middle of the two Aurors on the trial table. Then the whole jury box stood and took their oath of impartiality with the jury foreman. Susan, Neville, Lucius and Narcissa, who all knew the victim personally, felt relieved that this oath was included, as it meant that no one could challenge their presence in the jury of Governors.

After everyone in the jury had settled down in their seats again, with a nod to the leader of the court, the ushers and bailiffs, Augusta stood to announce, "Hear yea, hear yea! This Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Academic Conclave of Enquiry is in session. You will be respectful of this Court, and those called before it will provide their testimony in the matter under discussion today. If yea be breaking the peace, the goblins shall remove you and you will be punished later. We will now proceed. Bring in the accused."

With that, Ronald Bilius Weasley was brought into the court. He was wearing his Gryffindor House robes and it was daunting to enter the Great Hall between two knarled goblins with their battle axes. When he reached the trial table, the goblins brought him round to sit next to his father on his left and his two oldest brothers on his right. In a way it was to protect him, but it was also to control him if something kicked off in the Great Hall that morning. The Goblin minders then moved in the side corridor between the professors' seating and the student stalls, where they would help with the crowd control. These two axe wielders were charged with ensuring the prisoner's safety.

The Conclave followed the pattern many had become familiar with over the last two weeks of the Dumbledore trial that had been reported thrice daily in the wizarding media. However there were three main components instead of the usual two: the Aurors worked as a neutral investigative agents of the Conclave; the victim's lawyers acted as prosecutors who attempted to prove the fault of the defendant; and the defendant refuted the claims of the victim and the evidence of the Aurors. The Headmistress and the jury foreman, Alastor Moody, had to work together to ensure that any questions that the jurors had would be answered. The Headmistress acted as the Conclave's administrator. A comparable system would be a muggle parliamentary committee, or the formal Coroner's Court process that this case so easily could have been. Some aspects of this Conclave were also very familiar to a military Board of Enquiry into an accident.

Auror Shacklebolt had felt like he had been working the candle from both ends. He had found all the witnesses and the additional sources that he would present to the Conclave during some very long days. At the same time he had to study the Conclave guidelines to ensure that he had completed all his duties per the rules and regulation. Now, today, he was dressed up like a turkey in his formal Auror robes. To add to his woes, the stiff collar was scratching his neck.

The whole sorry history of the events, including the earlier attack, was presented to the Conclave. Everyone saw the memories collected by the Aurors, who used a projecting pensieve to display them. It appeared that the physical assault had been triggered by the legacy of Albus Dumbledore's bias and bigotry. There were additional concerns from the jury of Governors, since the child injured was one of the first muggleborns to be sorted into Slytherin for close to a hundred years. This assault had not been the first made against her by Ronald Weasley, nor was it a minor infraction. The witch had bruises from an earlier attack that had been handled internally within the school disciplinary system, but this time she had been set upon with no warning in the presence of another young witch, and the girl had almost died from the severity of the attack.

The details of how the internal disciplinary process was handled by the prefects from all Houses were being questioned. It was not just Marcus Flint and Percy Weasley who were closely interrogated. The whole process of the system was put under the microscope in the open court. Professor Snape was called as the Housemaster of Slytherin to explain his policy and practices in relation to the House prefects and the various rules he used in his control of the Slytherin students. Many of the visiting officials in the professors' seating area were shocked at hearing how frequently the Slytherin students had to protect their own, as there had been no protection from those who were in authority.

The whole policy of walking in pairs or groups when not in the common room was explained and Professor Snape was able to provide the Conclave with a long list of previous assaults on his students, that were mostly magical in nature with hexes and jinxes; however, there were also physical incidences that tended to come from older students. Even students in other Houses started to realise there was something wrong when schoolchildren who had been learning about magic for less than a day could be hexed just based on their House selection from a magical hat. Madam Marchbanks had stood to ask questions for clarification and Lucius Malfoy seemed to be busily passing notes to the jury foreman.

Percy Weasley explained that after Prefect Flint had advised him of library incident, he had put his youngest brother on restriction within Gryffindor. He was questioned about letting his brother of lightly, to which he heatedly responded that this was not the case as he took his position very seriously.

Ronald had been silent up until then but in a momentary lull, "And a right prat is Pompous Percy," could be heard coming from the younger boy. There was definitely no love between the two brothers.

The first year students provided a number of witnesses who highlighted the fears that had been rampant in the younger female population. Sadguna was extremely proud of her daughter, Padma, who reported how Hermione had started an inter-house study group for homework and assistance with the different subjects. Padma went on to explain how the girl had been minding her own business when the boy charged with this assault continued his normal bulling of the muggleborn student. This time, he had moved from words, like he usually did in the classroom, to put his hands on her since, they did not have a teacher watching over them in the library and they were out the sight of Madam Pince. In response, the muggleborn student had instantly reacted like her father had trained her, and thrown him over her hip with a judo move so she could then flee.

Andromeda Black-Tonks, the famous magical lawyer for the House of Black, proceeded to draw every fact out of the witness list to demonstrate clearly that the muggleborn witch was not at fault and that Ronald Weasley had a long history of being a bully.

The memory of library attack and all the statements made by Ronald Weasley about Dumbledore and his sister brought some confusion to the Conclave.

"He's going to marry my sister and make me rich. Professor Dumbledore said so," snapped the deluded boy.

Why? But after the last fortnight in the Wizengamot, why not? The shocks had come one after another.


	16. Conclave continues

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 16: Conclave continues**

Madam Andromeda Black-Tonks showed her brilliance as a lawyer as she proceeded to pick apart every action of Ronald Bilius Weasley. She had started with Ronald's behaviour towards many of the students since he started at Hogwarts.

Details about Ron's behaviour on the train and his fangirl actions towards the Boy-Who-Lived were highlighted. The memories that were screened to the Conclave of different incidents built a picture of his bigotry towards muggleborn students and how there was definitely something wrong with his attitudes. Some of the student memories broadcast demonstrated that his older brothers had tried to address his deviant behaviour where they could.

Eventually Madam Tonks brought the Conclave to the night when the two girls were confronted on their way back to the Slytherin Nest. The House ghost, the Bloody Baron, was the first witness who explained his observations before and after the incident.

Next was Miss Granger herself, who said that she and Daphne had been talking about a homework item when the next thing she knew was a fist coming straight towards her face. She had nowhere to move to avoid the blow and it had thrown her to the ground. Miss Granger was highly enthusiastic about Miss Greengrass stepping in to save her from the boy, particularly when he started to put the boot into her ribs. During the whole testimony, Arthur Weasley kept checking both his wife and his youngest son to ensure that they did not do anything foolish.

With a surreptitious, "Bill!" the hen-pecked husband warned his older son to look to his mother, as she was starting to bubble and boil much like an exploding cauldron, observed Severus from his comfortable seat. The wizard shot a number of spells and charms at her, including a Confundus and Cheering Charm to support his sticking jinx to keep her in the chair.

"Miss Granger, you are apparently the first muggleborn to be sorted into Slytherin in about a hundred years. Can you explain why?" the queens council probed.

"That is probably because my father is the squib son of a squib. Technically, in some parts of the traditional pureblood society, I am a muggleborn but that is a little silly as by another technicality, I am also classified as a half-blood. I have inherited the Dagworth-Granger Estate and my father, as a squib, is one of its trustees. I am very ambitious and the hat said that Slytherin was the place for my ambition."

The Greengrass girl's testimony and response to the attack was examined by the Aurors to ensure all were clear about the girl's actions and how she had called for help by using the pictures within the school. The next witness was an interesting one, as it was a picture frame and it enabled the individuals from the dungeon paintings to visit the Conclave to present their observations of the night.

Andromeda Tonks had a great time asking clarifying questions from all the Aurors' witnesses, as she was building the evidence to show that Ronald Weasley was unstable and should he have his magic, he was likely to misuse it, since he was a repeat offender for physical assault. Mediwitch Poppy Pomfrey was an explosive witness as she calmly explained the additional physical injuries the girl had received on top of the haemorrhage.

Apparently the great force of the punch had triggered the haemorrhage when it caused the petite witch to come crashing down onto the stone floor, knocking her head on the large, limestone paving stones. Added to the blunt force trauma she had received to the brain, the lass also had force injuries when her brain had ricocheted off her skull at high speed. The Mediwitch explained the situation with the use of a jelly in a clear plastic drinks bottle to emphasize the causation of the girl's head injury. Of course, there were other injuries such as the cracked ribs, but the Mediwitch advised that Miss Greengrass must have been quick, as she only counted two points of impact on the young girl's torso.

By the time Ronald was put on the stand, the horror of the attack had well and truly sickened many of the court. When Alastor Moody asked the Conclave if the lad could be potioned for the truth, his mother had bustled in her seat.

"No!" was the resounding answer from the parents, for two different reasons. Arthur did not want to hear any more about his son's dishonour, especially not out of his own mouth. Molly, however, wanted him to be kept silent for other reasons, in particular her close relationship with Dumbledore. In response to this negative answer from the parents, the questioning for the boy was continued. Before Madam Tonks advised the court that the witness was no longer required, Severus Snape was pleased to see his former, incompetent, potions student stand.

Mr Holbrook from Wizarding Child Protective Services was a horrible potions student but apparently he was a very good child social worker.

"Ronald, I understand you received a Howler from your mother a couple of days after Halloween. How did it make you feel?"

The boy looked left and then right. He seemed to be looking for some guidance from his family about how he should answer the question. Again Mr Holbrook prompted "Ronald, how did you feel?"

There was a downward look and a low mutter of, "I was embarrassed." There was the sound of a strangled cry further down the professors' bleachers. Mother Molly did not like her son's answer.

"Did it make you upset?" he prompted, trying to see if he could gain further details.

"Yes," was the bland answer from the boy.

Molly stood up, having broken the sticking charm. "My Ronald is my most sensitive boy. Of course he gets upset often. That's why his whole behaviour causing the detentions was so out of character and needed the firm disciplining of a Howler."

"Madam Weasley, take your seat. You will have your chance to speak later," intoned Madam Longbottom. Two goblins made their way closer to the woman and she huffed and fluffed in her required seat like a clucky bantam hen.

"Do you often get upset?" Mr Holbrook asked again, attempting to get his questioning of the attacker back on track.

Even though the boy answered verbally, "NO!" his body language indicated that the contrary. Yes, the boy often got upset. There was a sly shiftiness to his eyes that the young social worker was concerned about.

"Do you get upset about being the youngest boy and having to have hand-me-down clothes?" pushed the social worker.

"Sometimes," the boy grudgingly admitted.

"Did you go to Ollivander's for your wand?" was the simple question. Again there was fluffing in the seat but this time the woman did not stand. The two goblins with their halberds were definitely a consideration in her actions but they did not stop her mutters of, "How dare they treat me like this? I am a good witch and mother. My Ronnikins is a sensitive boy," to be heard in the Great Hall.

"Ronald, did you go to Ollivanders for your wand?" Holbrook repeated again, firmly indicating to the boy he had to answer, and speaking over the Molly's mutterings.

"No," was the stony reply, and it could be seen that the boy was getting embarrassed, as his ears were now beetroot red and his face was highly flushed.

"Whose wand are you using?"

"I'm using my uncle Fabian's," the boy answered not looking up, especially not making eye contact with his mother.

Mr Holbrook moved again in the court after looking over his shoulder at the professors seating area. It could be noticed that he was ensuring that he was blocking the child's view of his mother.

"Why do you use your Uncle Fabian's wand?" Mr Holbrook asked for the first time and there was no answer. He asked the question again. This seemed to be a common pattern of his interviewing of the boy in the court. Could he be a little slow? was that why Molly Weasley was so protective of the child?

"Why do you use your Uncle Fabian's wand?" This time the child looked even more flustered. Madam Longbottom stepped in and stated, "Answer the question Ronald."

"Because Mother didn't want to waste money on a wand for me when we would need money for Ginny's things." He had not wanted to admit the limitations of their financial needs. Auror Moody was looking not at the child, but rather at Arthur Weasley who looked confused.

"How often do you get new things?" asked the social worker again.

"Umm, not very often. I'm the youngest so things are handed down to me." The tone and dejection of the situation made it clear that the boy had some issues. Molly Weasley called out, "Leave my son alone, you bully!" and the boy closed his eyes. It was that universal look of 'open a hole right here and now to let me get swallowed up, as I am so ashamed of my parent's actions.'

Madam Longbottom released the lad from the witness box and he returned to his seat where his father and oldest brother gave him a hug. The next oldest brother had reached round the oldest boy to pat the lad gently on his back, giving an indication of his support.

Madam Tonks proceeded to lay out the rest of the night, using the additional witnesses to explain their parts in the evening's events. She had put her case to the Conclave that Ronald was misguided and had a history of abuse towards muggleborn children.

Madam Longbottom turned back to the professor's benches and asked if there were any additional questions from the academia. Mr Holbrook stood again and Severus tried to hide his smirk. "Madam Longbottom, I would like for the child's mother to be called, so we can discover whether it is an external influence or a familial problem."

Molly was pink in the face when she was escorted to the stand, where she was sworn in to the Conclave using her wand. The social worker had looked at the goblins and there was a nod. Yes, they were ready in case the parent kicked off. Miles Holbrook had a set of questions for the mother and he wondered if her infamous Prewett temper was going to come out to play. There had been no way for him to get her wand from her legally, so he was going to have to watch her body language like a hawk.

"Madam Weasley, how many children do you have?"

"I have six boys and one girl," was stated with a hint of pride. Not many pureblood families had more than one or two children. She had been fertile and productive as a mother.

"Can you please state their names and ages?" Holbrook politely asked her.

The oldest is Bill who is twenty-one, Charlie who will turn nineteen this December, Percy the prefect, he is fifteen." She pointed to her prefect son sitting in the Gryffindor stalls, where he promptly went red in the face.

"The next two are the twins, Fred and George who are third years and thirteen years old; their birthday is next April. Ronald, who is eleven years old and then our only girl, young Ginevra. She was born in the last months of the war and is ten years old. She will be joining her brothers next year here at the school." Yes there was maternal pride about the children but as Miles Holbrook summarised the woman had favourites.

"So you would say that the last couple of years have been quieter than when you had all seven children at home?" he continued in a mild mannered tone. He was trying to bait the hook to reel in his fish.

"Yes, it has been quieter and I only have Ginny at home now. It is not helped by the twins getting into trouble every other week due to their pranks, but we have been muddling through," she replied, not realising he was laying out a trap for her. She had been offended earlier when the man had blocked her view of the Conclave, as she had wanted to reassure her little Ronnie.

"How often would you need to discipline your children?" inquired Mr Holbrook in a mild tone and a seemingly disinterested voice.

"Some often and others hardly ever, it depends on the child," she responded to the young social worker.

"How often have you sent a Howler to your children in school?" he asked the woman.

"I have sent a Howler when it was necessary. I have the children at home – I can't be running up here all the time to bail out a miscreant child"

"So yelling your displeasure is a normal part of your parenting behaviour?" inquired the mild mannered, young Ministry official.

"No, a strongly worded statement of displeasure when necessary is my normal practice," she retorted with some anger in her voice.

"So can you tell me about your children?"

"Bill, the eldest, works for Gringotts; he is doing an apprenticeship in Egypt. Charlie is on a dragon reserve in Romania. Percy wants to go into the Ministry like his father. The twins are pranksters who should work on their grades so they can join the Ministry. Ron wants to go into the Ministry. Ginevra is good at cooking and housekeeping".

"So your two oldest children are not living at home?" Holbrook tried to confirm, while pushing her.

"Yes, they are not at home at the moment," she replied with a little bit of asperity coming through in her answer.

"Why did they get jobs that took them away from the family home?" he pushed again, hoping to get the outcome he wanted. He wanted to prove that it was her influence on the child, not his father's, that had caused this situation.

"They just had jobs which took them away from England. The rest of the children have goals that won't take them out of the country, so they can live with the family until they get established in their careers." Molly had avoided that round of questioning and was congratulating herself for answering in a manner that indicated that she was a good and caring mother.

"When the oldest children were in school, did you ever encourage them to bring their friends home during the holidays?" was the next prosaic question.

"They never asked. We would have had their friends if was possible" she hedged. No, the children had not been encouraged to bring their friends home, as there were other children who were younger and it would have been difficult to feed extra mouths. They did not leave the Burrow, their home, very often, as it would cost money. The Burrow had a large amount of land surrounding it, so there was plenty of space for the children to play.

"Do you have a hearing disability Madam Weasley?" was the next question that seemed to come out of left field from Mr Holbrook. Molly could not see the point, so she answered it honestly.

"No, my hearing is perfectly fine. With seven children you need to have good hearing," and there was a chuckle from all who knew the Weasley twins and their escapades.

"Then can you please explain why you were heard at the start of the year talking loudly about muggles in the middle of the muggle side of Kings Cross station?" inquired the social worker. Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt looked sharply at the young social worker. Where was he going with this questioning and where did he get his information from?

"There was enough noise to cover any discussion we were having. I was guiding the children to the platform," she calmly explained, buffing off that she had broken the Statute of Secrecy.

"How often have you been to platform 9¾, Madam Weasley?" Holbrook asked in a polite manner, as if it was merely a curious fact.

"I have been to the platform for all seven years of my own education at least twice. Some years more, when I came home for the winter holidays. I have always taken the children every year. So far that means seven years with Bill, and add another years with the twins as they started the year after Bill finished, so I have ten years of taking the children and I have another seven years to look forward when Ginny starts next year." Molly explained counting off on her fingers.

"So why were you heard by a muggleborn wizarding parent to be loudly asking your youngest child what was the number of the platform?" he probed. She was shifting in her seat when she answered.

"We were a little flustered that morning."

"How often do you get confused about the names of your children?" Mr Holbrook asked looking at a page of notes that he had in his hand.

She remembered that morning and the confusion over the twins' names, "I get confused with the twins but they play on it. Calling themselves Gred and Forge."

"Why was it necessary to drag your daughter physically through the barrier?" he pushed even more.

"I was not dragging her, I was holding onto her. She is the youngest and I didn't want to lose her there."

"Loose her where?" he wanted to know. The report to wizarding child services had been hidden under all the paperwork that the Dumbledore case had made for them but Mr Holbrook had been a conscientious social worker and accioed anything to do with the Weasley family from their files. It had been an interesting read for him and now that he had her in a semi formal court situation, he could get some answers.

"The muggle world," she stated flatly.

"Do you have a problem with the muggle world?"

"No, my husband tinkers with muggle artefacts all the time and he works in that area in the Ministry."

"I would like to put it to you another way: have you ever taken your children to the local muggle multiplex cinema?" the matriarch was asked politely.

"No," she responded flatly, looking a little confused.

"Do you even know what a cinema is?" was the next question from the social worker. He was hoping to show that there was some unknown bigotry with the woman and that she had an irrational fear of the muggle world.

"No," she answered.

"How often have you been in the muggle world in the last twelve months?"

"I don't often get the chance, as I am busy running a household with seven children," she blithely pushed the question away.

"Now, Madam: that last statement is incorrect, is it not, as do not two of your children work outside the UK? Are those two therefore are not children requiring the care of their mother, but rather adults with their own lives? Do not four of your children currently attend the school here? From the red hair present in the Gryffindor stalls I can count the presence of three of your brood in uniform, while there is a younger daughter present with her brothers. Looking at the trial bench, I can see the rest of your nestlings. Currently, according to your husband's Ministry employment records, there is only one child living in the domicile on a full-time basis, one Ginevra Molly Weasley."

During this questioning from Mr Holbrook of Wizarding Children's Protective Services, Molly Weasley had been stating to boil with anger. How dear this whipper-snapper, wet-behind-the-ears boy, talk to her about her children? How dare he suggest that she was not a fit mother or that she was abusive and overbearing to the point where she drove her children away from their family home? It may have been a correct assessment of the family situation but she would never admit to being at fault.

"Madam Weasley, can you explain about why your son is using his uncle's wand?"

"It is economy of scale. At the moment we need to save for next year. Ronald is so much like his uncle that the wand is a good match. We have had to do this at other times with the older boys. William started Hogwarts using his Uncle Gideon's wand and we got him his own wand in his third year. Charlie did the same thing and so did Percy. Neither twin could use their uncle's wands, which was surprising since they were jokesters as well."

"If funds are so short in your family, why have you not returned to work? I understand that you have certification as a potions apprentice?" he pushed.

"I had seven children, it was not possible to go out to work," snapped the woman, as though he was mad.

"Couldn't you have done some outside subcontracting, especially since you were at home?" pushed the man.

"Not really, as I had to educate the younger children," she answered again, hoping to show her belief that she was a good mother.

"If you were so busy, why according to the school file on your family, did you have time to send Howlers to your children? Apparently you are a frequent sender of Howlers. The Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress has repeatedly requested that you do not send Howlers to your children as, let me read her comments, it is detrimental to the school policy for children's self-awareness and confidence, it is a form of bullying, a breach of noise restraints, and a humiliating form of discipline for the individual to be named and shamed in this manner in front of the whole school.

"It seems that even though there have been repeated meetings about this matter, you still continue to send Howlers to your children. The latest incident was just a couple of days after Halloween, where you reprimanded your son, who is currently facing an inquiry into his behaviour. I would like to play for the Court a pensieve memory from Madam Longbottom of that morning and the Howler that you sent here to the Great Hall." Almost immediately, most of the student population in the stalls put their hands over their ears; it was a telling indication that many were familiar with the volume of a Molly Weasley Howler.

_"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY, HOW DARE YOU GET DETENTION UNTIL CHRISTMAS? I AM MOST DISAPPOINTED WITH YOUR BEHAVIOUR. YOU HAVE HAD MORE DETENTIONS THAN ALL YOUR BROTHERS COMBINED IN THEIR FIRST YEAR OF SCHOOL. IF THIS CONTINUES, I WILL COME TO THE SCHOOL MYSELF WITH MY WOODEN SPOON AND THRASH YOU FOR YOUR BAD BEHAVIOUR. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"_

Arthur Weasley was shocked at the level of the noise. Turning, he was even more shocked by everyone's preparedness for the loudness. Has this what it has always been like? Molly had told him that she sent her Howlers at a normal sound level and that the school was just exaggerating.

"Madam Weasley, isn't that a very loud Howler?" pushed Mr Holbrook.

"No, it's a normal level," she responded blithely, before adding, "Madam Longbottom must have edited it to be louder."

"No, I can assure you the memory was copied by a court professional and I had all the memory voices assessed using a muggle sound system technician. By the way, your Howler records over 115 decibels," explained Mr Holbrook.

"So what would muggles know about magical Howlers and whatever is a sound system technician?" Molly was scoffed that the silly muggles could possibly know anything, since they were so backwards.

"It seems that 115 decibels is equivalent to a loud rock concert and according to UK non-magical law, can be considered to be a noise infringement," advised Mr Holbrook in a straight, factual manner.

"That is just a muggle law," she said with spiteful derision.

"However, it is also a magical law, since we have supported the introduction of magical noise restrictions and we are ruled by the muggle Queen. The Ministry of Magic is an official Ministry of her Government." It would seem that the Hufflepuff had some cunning.

"But that is not been published by the Ministry," she dithered, not liking to show her lack of knowledge of the world or even of Ministry political facts.

"Ignorance is not an excuse under the law," asserted the social worker in a tone that seemed to light the fuse of the keg of black powder that was one Molly Weasley. She was starting to huff at the tone of language used by the young man.

"Is it good parenting to humiliate your children? To control their lives to such an extent that you drive them away from the family home? To be so overbearing that the whole population of the school cover their ears, as soon as they hear or see a Howler anywhere near your children? Is it right to mock and harass your children, opening them up to be seen as objects of ridicule in the school environment?"

"I don't," she asserted. "I'm a good mother," her voice was rising in pitch and her face was now flushed red with anger.

Mr Holbrook pushed just that little more, hoping to get her to break. " You obviously don't love your children or even care for them properly. What you have is a twisted love. Apparently only one of your children wants to work in the Ministry but that is just to keep you happy, as you only notice him when he fails to control your other sons. Did you even know that your daughter wants to play Quidditch?"

"I love my children and as a parent I am supposed to guide them to careers where they can support themselves," she hotly asserted. He had not got to her entirely yet.

"Really? How are you a good mother?" his voice was dripping with contempt. "Hand-me-down clothes, poor care? Why don't we look at the number of times your children have needed medical care at St Mungo's? Do you think thirty-nine trips to St Mungo's Casualty Ward in the space of one year alone is acceptable? You should be ashamed of yourself! There are a number complaints about your parenting practices, and concerns about the well-being of your children that indicate you are a poor mother who doesn't deserve the time of day or even the pleasure of your children." and at derisive tone and the man's body language, the fuse flashed and she was off.

"HOW DARE YOU EVEN SPEAK TO ME IN THAT MANNER, YOU WHIPPER-SNAPPER! I AM A GOOD MOTHER. I WAS LOOKING AFTER CHILDREN WHEN YOU WERE STILL IN SCHOOL, YOU SNOT-NOSED NIFFLER," she screamed. Molly Prewett Weasley had been goaded into making the ultimate mistake and whipped out her wand.

The goblin bailiffs quickly responded and the woman found herself face down on the floor with her wand confiscated. The poor Weasley family was lurching from one disaster to another. Arthur Weasley looked at the chaos of what was going on and calmly took a breath and then another. He lowered his head into his hands. He could not believe how his Molly had dragged the family to this level of shame. The goblin bailiffs dragged the bound woman back to the witness box chair and it was at this point that Kingsley Shacklebolt asked Madam Pomfrey to assess the woman's fitness to continue. If they could get her out of here, they should, in order to protect the family a bit. Poor Arthur did not deserve this shame and belittlement. Things were getting worse and worse for the family of red-heads.

Madam Pomfrey indicated to Auror Shacklebolt that there was something not right with the woman and spelled a calming draft into her. On her way back to her seat she looked at Arthur and asked Madam Longbottom and Auror Shacklebolt if she could also assess the man. Those with healing training realised that she had done more than just the basic health check on Arthur, especially when she walked up to Kingsley Shacklebolt to give him the findings and he promptly conferred with both Madam Longbottom and the jury foreman, Alastor Moody. What was not explained to all and sundry was that Arthur was heavily potioned and it appeared that Molly had some sort of obsessive fixation. On who and what the woman was fixated, she was not certain, but Molly's brain chemistry was severely out of whack and how she managed to fool the world that she was sane was baffling. The goblins removed Molly from the Great Hall to a secure classroom, while the rest of the Conclave continued.

Auror Shacklebolt presented the rest of his evidence that he and Auror Bowman had so carefully gathered. In the end the jury found Ronald guilty, however, the situation with his parents had sent up red flags, therefore, they proposed alternative verdicts, pending a full medical assessment of the boy to clarify whether or not he is under the influence of potions, or compulsion or other charms, and that he is not suffering from a similar medical condition as his mother. If the diagnosis were to come back positive, he would be admitted to St Mungo's for whatever treatment is deemed necessary and assessed again after treatment. A verdict will be delivered at that time, depending on the results of his treatment and reassessment.

If Ronald were clear of all outside influences and had no mental condition, but was merely an angry, deluded and violent young boy, he would be expelled from Hogwarts, his magic would be bound permanently, and then he would be obliviated, as he could not be trusted to hold a wand. The jury statement to the Conclave advised that they thought it was cruel to leave the child knowing about magic but not being able to use their magic. Additionally, the jury recommended that the Wizarding Child Welfare Services place Ronald in a secure muggle child detention centre where hopefully they would work on his self-worth needs, highly jealousy traits and violent tendencies.

As part of the findings of the Conclave, Madam Longbottom and the four Heads of House were required to implement and review the school disciplinary practices to ensure that all students knew it was not acceptable behaviour to attack another student in the hallway and that all infractions would be strongly reprimanded.

Madam Bones had some further investigating to do but knowing she had two parents in St Mungo's undergoing different assessments: Arthur for a detailed screening, as it was suspected that he was under Molly's control thanks to her potions ability, and Molly in the mental health ward. Starting on the coming Monday, there would be a DMLE investigation into the family, to ensure that the best options were being done for the rest of the Weasley children. However did thirty-nine hospital visits in one year alone manage not to trigger a social services investigation? It must have been through the interference of Albus Sodding Dumbledore yet again. There was something odd in the boy's statements to Miss Granger. Further investigation was needed before the Conclave's finding was put into action. For now, the child was in the custody of the Wizarding Child Services. The Wizengamot would have to confirm the rest of the jury's recommendations. To bind the magic of an individual was a considerable step to take. Add the oblivation and memory manipulation and there were supplementary concerns about creating a monster, if the child remembered ever magic or overcame the bindings. Therefore, he would need to be monitored for the rest of his life, in case he should ever overcome the obliviation and bindings, as he could be trusted to use magic responsibly.


	17. What now?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.

**Chapter 17: What now?**

After the Academic Conclave, much of Hogwarts' population was thinking, 'What next?' Madam Longbottom, being the honest crone she was, would kick herself later that evening for her earlier statement that trouble came in threes, when the news came through that Albus Dumbledore had escaped from Azkaban.

Apparently, the man had wandlessly broken out of the prison and then apparated to the mainland. Hogwarts was to be on the alert as there was a chance that he would attempt to return to the school, while the Board of Governors immediately convened an emergency meeting to remove Albus Dumbledore officially from his position as Headmaster of Hogwarts. The meeting had originally been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon the following week, however, they now found themselves holding the meeting immediately after the Conclave rather than risk putting it off any longer, as they needed to remove control of the wards from Dumbledore as quickly as possible. Not surprisingly, the emergency meeting removed Dumbledore from his official role as Headmaster. The Goblin Nation was then called in to help provide security and transfer the wards to the full control of the Headmistress and her Deputy.

oOoOo

Monday morning was absolutely horrendous for Madam Amelia Bones. As the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she had not had a weekend. Dumbledore doing a runner from Azkaban after the Conclave was only the start of her nightmare and it had just not ended. Madam Bones was now enduring day terrors, which seemed to go from terrible to abysmal. Sleep was something of the past while one of the largest manhunts ever undertaken by the Auror Corps was currently in operation. There were short kips in the Auror Corp Emergency command centre on a cot but that did not mean the lady got any rest. Her mind was too busy running a marathon as she kept thinking over and over again where Dumbledore could be hiding in the UK. The whole situation regarding the Weasley family was just the cherry on top for Amelia in the total dreadfulness stakes for the whole weekend.

The reports coming from St Mungo's indicated that Arthur had been potioned for years and they would need to undertake an long and intensive treatment program to flush the effects out of his system. During his initial interviews with the DMLE investigators from his hospital room, there had been some confusion as he explained that the children should have had at least one or two good, new outfits a season, since the man seemed to think that they had always had enough in their savings to make this possible. Arthur was shocked to see photos of the state of the clothing the children were wearing. Hand-me-downs were good for play clothes or even everyday outfits if an elder sibling had undergone a massive growth spurt in a short space of time and had outgrown their clothes before they experienced too much wear and tear. And yet, the clothes that the youngest Weasley son owned were not in good condition at all. In fact, many items were little more than rags. Ginny seemed to have some cut-downs from her older siblings but she at least received one or two pretty dresses each season, since she was a girl and needed some items that were not boys' clothing. However, there was no need for Ronald to be in rags given how cheap clothing could be especially, when you could buy a children's outfit in a muggle supermarket like ASDA for less than a pound. Even food shopping in Tesco, ASDA or Morrison's would make a considerable difference to their family budget. With Arthur's work area he should be highly familiar with the muggle world and be able to apply this additional knowledge to extending his monthly salary.

Thanks to the line of questioning that Miles Holbrook from Child Welfare had started, the goblins had provided a copy of Arthur's bank account and statements and the bank's security officer, together with the Auror Office's forensic accountant, was having fun deconstructing the last twenty years of transactions. While Arthur's wage from the Ministry was not luxurious, it was still in the management pay scale, making it possible for the family to live comfortably if they were careful, even if they stayed wholly within the wizarding world. There were no foreign holidays, the Burrow's land had been inherited and the Weasley couple had made all the extensions to the house themselves as DIY projects when they needed the extra space as the children came along. Where had all the money gone? This pertinent question needed to be answered.

Looking through the house, the Aurors had used the assistance of a team of goblin curse breakers who were more used to working in the Egyptian tombs looking for any hidden areas, to try and ascertain whether or not there were any records to help the forensic accounting investigation. Bill and Charlie were staying in the Hogwarts guest quarters with Ginny while the Burrow was being pulled apart room by room. It was felt that if all the children remained in close contact it would lessen the stress of the investigation. The children had an in-built support network within Gryffindor and from the teaching staff.

There was no way that Miles Holbrook was going to let the Weasley children go into the care of their Great Aunt Muriel Prewett. The amount of verbal abuse that had come out of that woman's mouth during his ten minute interview of her was enough to convince him that she would be a poor guardian for the children while their parents were in St Mungo's Hospital. In the end, a joint guardianship agreement was organised with young Bill and Charlie Weasley being supported by Deputy Headmistress McGonagall. The woman had taught almost all of the family and been their Head of House, so could provide sound reasoning if needed.

The medical report on Molly was not good. It seemed that she had a severe mental health illness. It was not unheard of in some pureblood families, particularly if there had been too many marriages to close cousins in their line. No, Molly Prewett Weasley was not going to be coming out of the high secure unit attached to the Janus Thickey Ward in the near future – if ever, truth be told. While her condition was not technically due to spell damage, the woman was highly dangerous in her obsessive delusions and with her physical strength, she needed to be contained in a locked ward.

Ronald's medical assessment from the specialist healers indicated that Molly had been a strong influence on the poor boy, so there was definitely some conditioning there. Given the sheer amount of potions in his father and the conditioning the boy had been subjected to, it was recommended that the lad receive mind healing and re-education to address his hatred of Slytherin snakes, along with his poor attitude in general. One area that Miles Holbrook was keen to address was the boy's basic manners after observing him eating his breakfast before the Conclave. The boy was a walking garbage disposal.

The Healers were not prepared at this stage to say that Ron was too damaged to be helped, as he was still young and no one wanted to deny him his magic if it could be avoided. They also had the ethical issue of whether or not it was right to push the problem into the muggle world. The St Mungo's conclusion was that he should be treated and reassessed. Once he completed the St Mungo's initial treatment programme, he would be monitored, evaluated and constantly reviewed by a number of agencies, that would include the DMLE and Child Welfare, along with the Healers. The future for the lad was unfortunately a Catch-22 situation. Did he even have a future in the wizarding world? Would anyone be willing to employ him in the future with this in his past, no matter how fully healed he may be deemed to be? There were so many questions. Amelia was in fact wondering if it was better for the child to transfer him into a muggle secure unit where he could get the re-education, psychiatric treatment and non-magical education he would need if he was deemed beyond magical help. He could then be set up with a totally new identity on his release from the facility at eighteen years. Muggle child offenders were often given new identities to help them become integrated back into muggle society. Serious cases were not left on their own when released. No, they had all sorts of watchers, including hidden watchers from the Home Office. Amelia really did not have the time at the moment to make any decisions and she was aware that this whole bag of trouble would have to go to the Wizengamot for the final say.

oOoOo

Albus Dumbledore had made it to the mainland to find that the North Eastern coast of Britain was not exactly a comfortable place for him to stay. Amelia Bones had enlisted the help of the muggle Police Services in the region by advising that they had a dangerous mental health patient who had escaped. Given Dumbledore's age, Madam Bones had used the cover story that he was a very strong and fit, aggressive stage dementia patient, who had broken out of a secure unit.

Thanks to Kingsley's experience as liaison with the muggle Prime Minister's office, he was the man that Amelia had as her muggle police services liaison during the manhunt for this prisoner. Knowing Shack, Amelia was certain he was ready to sic his mother onto her for giving him terrible assignments. She could honestly say that Mrs Shacklebolt, who she had met in the past, was truly a force of nature. Amelia had a laugh thinking about the tall, strong Auror getting his ear twisted by his smaller mother. It had been a funny day, coming across the woman in Birmingham. No, not a good idea to visit the city where your mother lives without stopping by, not if your mother was Mrs Shacklebolt.

Albus had realised that he had to move quickly out of the North East region as there seemed an awful lot of people looking for him. When he saw his doctored photo in a local newspaper he knew that Amelia was working hard to cut him off and recapture him. Thinking that he would see if he could get some initial help and information, Dumbledore then apparated to a field near the Burrow in Devon. From the field he could overlook both the Lovegood's home, the Rookery, and the Burrow to see what sort of surveillance there was on the family, and in the area in general. Dumbledore had been quite shocked when he observed that there were no Weasleys in residence at the Burrow, but rather what appeared to be a joint team working for the DMLE. It appeared that there were Aurors and a goblin curse breaking team in residence, going through the house with a fine-tooth comb. No, it was clear that he was not going to get any help from Molly.

Albus Dumbledore knew that if the goblins captured him, it would not be pleasant experience. They wanted him for deception, falsification of documents, and the big no-no, the one which would lead to a death sentence if they ever got him on goblin territory, theft.

So he had neither access to his funds and nor any way of getting hold of funds elsewhere. The reality was that Albus Dumbledore was now banished from the British magical community. He could no longer appear there, as everyone would be after his blood. Even the magical creatures like the centaurs in the Forbidden Forest would be very happy to turn him in, if they did not use him for target practice.

Dumbledore was now living rough and using his wandless magic to confound and steal from muggle households to support himself. Given his known ability to travel and the fact that they had not found him within two days of his escape, Amelia Bones decided it was time to do a national muggle newshot for the missing, elderly, dementia patient. It was on all the terrestrial television channels, Sky News, all the muggle radio stations and in all the national newspapers. Police forces throughout the country were contacted and sites of interest, to which Albus was known to have links, were supplied to the Auror Corps' muggle counterparts.

To make sure she got her man, Amelia faced the Wizengamot on Monday morning to ask for an international warrant for Albus Dumbledore's arrest. With the approval of this legal body, Madam Bones was able to contact her colleagues in Europe, identifying Dumbledore as Undesirable No 1. Kingsley had followed her lead and had contacted the countries where North Eastern Ferries travelled to, even visiting the various ports to explain he was looking for a missing and unstable dementia patient. As a just-in-case to cover all the bases, Kingsley also put out an alert via Interpol about his missing patient. He did not really imagine the man would travel by a muggle aircraft, but you never knew. Dumbledore might do it if he was desperate enough.

The man himself, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., D. Wiz., X.J.(sorc.), S. of Mag.Q. and all that was currently living very rough and not liking it at all. His temper was getting shorter and there was definitely no friendly twinkle in his eyes now, as both the muggle police forces and the Auror Corps were now hunting for him. Seeing how bad things were looking for him in Britain, Dumbledore decided to flee out of the country. Sitting in a rural, country, covered bus stop in the autumn rain, he decided that it was in his best interests to go west. In his mind, everyone would assume he would go to mainland Europe. Dumbledore believed that if he went to the Republic of Ireland instead, he could have a chance to get back on his feet while he worked on his plans to kill Voldemort and Harry Potter, while regaining his standing in the British magical community. It took a couple of days for Dumbledore to make it from Cornwall up to Wales, as he had a couple of close shaves and the weather had been absolutely dismal. It was not fun slogging along in the wet, trying to find a dry place to stay for the night.

Dumbledore boarded an Irish Sea Ferry in Pembroke. He absolutely loved the new car ferry trip, as the last time he had been on a boat was during the muggle Second World War. It had not been much fun crossing the English Channel back then, even in early June. The short crossing to Rosslare would only take four hours on the ferry, so the man was happily enjoying the warmth of the entertainment floor and the opportunity to eat. Thinking he had been sly in making sure he was not being suspicious, he forgot or did not know about muggle CCTV. There were a number of squibs on the ferry's crew, who had seen the strange wizard on the entertainment deck. A radio call to Rosslare for the Irish Aurors and the Guardia to meet the ferry upon its arrival in port had set up the capture of the former 'Great Man.' By Thursday lunchtime, Amelia Bones had received the news that Dumbledore had been captured in Ireland. Cuffed in magic dampening shackles, he was collected by a goblin phalanx to face the afternoon session of the Wizengamot. It was a very quick session, as Albus Dumbledore the former Headmaster of Hogwarts, was stripped of all his previous Honours and charged with escape from Azkaban. The guilty verdict was delivered quickly and the sentencing was even quicker. Within an hour of the emergency Wizengamot session, the former 'Great Man' had received the Dementor's Kiss and been sent through the Veil. Possibly the longest part of the entire process was the retrieval of a Dementor from Azkaban to perform the Kiss.

For the rest of the afternoon, Madam Bones assisted Kingsley Shacklebolt in informing all the muggle authorities and news agencies that the escaped dementia patient had been found. Tally, her secretary, had been busy issuing the magical press releases.

Madam Longbottom had been glad to send the extra goblin security back to Gringotts, as it had been eating into her budget. She was going to have fun getting a reimbursement from the Ministry of Magic for this cost, but that was why she had been appointed as the interim Headmistress, after all.

oOoOo

As soon as the all-clear was announced at Hogwarts, Sirius Black asked if he could escort Hermione Granger home to see her parents or, better still, escort her parents to stay for the weekend at Hogwarts. Augusta Longbottom, who had now fully taken over control of the wards, advised that she would prefer it if Hermione's parents came to the castle. It had been her absolute pleasure to remove the restriction on muggle parents, along with many other strange and conflicting settings. The wards were now like that of the entrance for Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron. You would need a magical person to guide you there the first time and help you see the entrance way, but once you had made the crossing once, you would evermore be able to see it.

Remus and Sirius soon found themselves in charge of a new project: parents' visits to Hogwarts and improving the integration of muggleborn students and their families into the magical world. Sirius' arrival in Crawley again saw Dan being cautious at the front door but as soon as he advised that he was there to pick them up so they could visit their daughter in Scotland, he found himself grabbed in a bear hug. Within seconds, Emma had packed their bags and Sirius swore it was the fastest time he had ever seen someone pack by hand for a weekend away.

The reunion of the Grangers in Scotland had been a highly charged, emotional event at the end of the teaching day. Hermione had been called to the Headmistress' office where her parents were impatiently waiting. To say that there was not a dry eye in the house would be a good description of all those in the office.

oOoOo

A/N: I am not disparaging second-hand clothing and hand-me-downs but it should be understood that clothing is used as one method to assess a family by Welfare or Social Services in the UK. Social work students are taught to make observations about whether the needs of the child are being met emotionally, financially and physically. Inappropriate clothing can be an indication that welfare payments or the household income, are not being appropriately spent. It could be an indication that money is going out on a hidden or not so hidden addiction. Inappropriate clothing can be evidence of child neglect. If the family circumstances are that bad, the welfare office will provide additional funding for new school uniforms, excursions, and after school activities like football, so the children are not excluded from participation or by their appearance. This is on top of the free lunch programme to ensure that they receive at least one full meal a day.

Hope that answers your questions** squidgey**.


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